Similar Skies, Different World
by Shroom Crab
Summary: A certain fight ramped up too much and three people were thrown into a different world. A ordinary high school boy, a magician, and a tiny magic god. Even worse, they all got separated. The goal is to reunite and return back to their own world, but will they all want to return once they see all the new world has to offer?
1. Under The Sky

Prologue: Under_The_Sky

Two figures are standing apart from each other under the night sky. Black eyes are staring right into blue ones. The psychedelic colors flare out from the horizon, illuminating the abandoned area around them. Fireworks are going off.

"Come on, Kamijou-chan. I can't be satisfied with something this little, you know?" In front of said Kamijou was a blonde-haired androgynous figure with hungry blue eyes gazing into his own.

That same androgynous figure is sporting a split lip and a moderate head injury shown by the blood dripping down from the side of his head. The cause of those injuries is revealed by Kamijou's clenched right fist.

That same right fist is severely bruised around the wrist area. His frown is at odds with the blonde's smile. "Thor…" The blonde readied himself to go on the offensive. He didn't change his casual stance in the slightest, but Kamijou knew that was when he was most dangerous.

The two have fought for a while now. Even these two stamina monsters can get worn down in a fight. To Kamijou, a fight this long has basically lost all meaning.

"What more do you have to gain from all of this?! There's no point nor is there any reason in us fighting anymore!" Thor stopped, tilted his head in confusion, and then realized what the problem was.

"Well, yeah that's true. I know you're the type of person who can't fight without a reason, so I gave you one. I don't understand why you don't like fighting, but you offer the best chance of me reaching new heights! So come on and fight for your partner's life!"

Thor's grin spelled out his next action. He vanished from Touma's sight and his fist appeared right in his face.

Almighty Thor. An ability unique to this person and only him, for it represents his nature as an almighty god. The magic rules a single world where he can appear anywhere he wants for an instant victory.

Kamijou of course, had no way of reacting to an instant attack, for he is just an average high schooler that can be found anywhere.

A dull sound rang out from the punch impacting the bridge of his nose. He held on strong and futilely counterattacked.

Thinking back on it, he should've been just a little bit suspicious when this former enemy of his turned up at his doorstep asking for help. Magicians always caused him trouble.

This occurring fight was planned out by Thor from the very beginning when he came to visit. It was one of those lucky days where he had no school, and he had all of his assignments done early.

No...to be honest, it was definitely an unlucky day. Another typical day in the life of Kamijou Touma.

* * *

He slept in a little late, but still woke up before all the inhabitants in his house did. He lazily walked over to the living room. "No school, there's still food in the fridge…" This is an auspicious day for this student.

Days like these worry him. Casual days like these never last. It's usually broken up by incidents caused by unruly magicians and espers.

He was getting ready to enter casual mode and turn on the TV when a certain silver-haired nun made her way to the living room while yawning. "Touma, food."

Her ravenous gaze turned onto the poor high school boy who just wanted to relax. This Kamijou Touma will never relax, for he is the most misfortunate person one would ever come across.

"Well, I was getting hungry anyways." He sluggishly walks towards the direction of the kitchen and notices the pet cat, Sphynx, trying to reach the counter. He instantly realizes what he's trying to reach for.

The male calico cat would only be impatient for two things. Food and… "Are you really going to stare at this situation and not assist me?" The shrunken god Othinus. No longer having the power of a magic god, she's just a 15-centimeter fairy. So he wasn't the first to wake up.

"I don't understand why you just don't let him play with you. He'll tire out eventually." Kamijou responds while holding his right hand out. The god grumpily crawls on the pathway to reach his shoulder.

"Of course a human like you doesn't understand the terrifying visage of a beast." The magic god haughtily retorts while Kamijou fills up the bowl for Sphynx. After that he can focus on making a breakfast for all three people in the apartment.

"I remember facing my other self who decided to turn into a dragon. Does that count?" He casually says as he prepares an omelet. Index is definitely the one getting the largest portion. That black hole of a nun is hard to satisfy sometimes.

"Not good enough. That damn cat… It's a fearsome beast that towers over me." Othinus recalls the many dangerous battles she's faced in her long life.

Sphynx is the second hardest one she's faced. There's just no counter to it. Though her hardest battle was…

"Alright, breakfast is done." He carries the meal all the way towards the table with a smile. The nun's gluttonous appetite distracted her from the TV when she noticed the wonderful breakfast in front of her.

"Delicious!" She devoured everything in front of her in record time. Othinus had a small serving in a small container catered to her size. Luckily, the cat was distracted by his own meal, but that won't hold him for long.

_'__This is a pretty good day. Nothing too much to worry about except for groceries. I really needed a day like this.' _Kamijou thought that to himself. He's been through a lot of incidents in half a year.

A good break was nice.

"Touma. Someone's at the door." Index pointed over to it.

A knock on the door distracts Kamijou from his thoughts. A good break _was _nice. He just has this odd feeling that the day is going to get a little bit crazy. After going through so much, he would like to say that this gut feeling is warranted. He opened the door and wanted to cry.

"Hey there Kamijou-chan. It's been a while." After seeing who was at the door, he just sighed. He really wanted to close it, but the least he could do was hear out this troublesome magician.

"What do you want Thor?" Kamijou's wary voice and deadpan only made Thor smile even more.

"Come on. That's no way to react to an old friend, right? I just have a teeny-tiny issue that I could use your help for." He mimed a small measurement with his pointer finger and thumb.

"The last time you had an issue, I got shot and Academy City was put into a frenzy by a crazy battle. You also forced me into a fight with you, which I never wanted by the way." After hearing what he pulled, Thor sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.

"You shouldn't complement me like that. I'll start blushing."

"I wasn't complimenting you!" He let out another sigh. He really doesn't want to deal with this soon after waking up. "Come in then. We were eating breakfast, so I guess you can have some." The fight-crazy blonde's eyes lit up.

"Thanks! I actually didn't have any food on the way here. I was in a big rush." He walked in and his eyes met Othinus's. They both stopped what they were doing.

Index only spared Thor a small look before going back to eating. Touma felt a little nervous. He actually forgot of the bad blood between the two.

Thor's former boss, Othinus, kind of betrayed him and the rest of their group. Thor's now a strong magician who's known an ex-member of Gremlin. He's still known by the world as a terrorist.

Technically, he's a criminal. Now that Accelerator is the new chairman of Academy City, shouldn't he know of any infamous people who enters the city at any given moment?

"Othinus."

"Thor." The two merely acknowledge each other's presence and go about on their day. Kamijou sighs in relief and pulls out another plate and hands it to Thor.

"Wow, this is a nice mood you got going on here. Shame that I had to break it."

"Oh, so you can read the mood?" Kamijou spat that out in annoyance. He knows that he's going to get involved because he knows Thor. Despite the two fights they had, Thor is actually not a bad person.

In a way, he can be described as a hero of sorts. He's a person who really wants to get stronger, but he also wants to save others. Those two goals intertwined in his head and he no longer knows which one he wants to do.

Did he save others to get stronger, or did he get stronger to save others? That's a dilemma that he still hasn't resolved yet. Something he can no longer remember.

"So, what's the problem this time?" Even Index sensed the change in mood. _'Does another person need saving?' _Kamijou showed a serious exterior, but on the inside, he's a bit worried.

"It's not that bad. I was wandering across the world in hopes for finding the best tasting ice cream. I've had it once before somewhere, but I just can't remember what it was called, nor where it was. I came here because I know that you would be able to help me!" He grinned.

Kamijou Touma, the boy who saved the world multiple times, was stumped. He nearly facepalmed at such a ridiculous thing.

"Is that really it?" Thor then got really serious. _'I knew it. It has to be something of grave importance if he came to find me.' _

"If I can't find the ice cream, then you can make it for me." This time Kamijou hit the table with his head. He didn't have the energy to even argue with him anymore. All of it was sapped away from merely dealing with this chaotic magician.

"Alright fine. Not like I have anything else to do… Hey Index." Her head popped up. She put a smile on her face because Kamijou isn't going to do anything dangerous without letting her know.

"Don't worry, I can watch the apartment. Leave it to me!" Kamijou nodded and stood up. He got clothed, and right before he left with Thor, the blonde magician pointed to his shoulder.

"Are you really bringing her with you?" There was a small amount of disdain that leaked through his voice. Kamijou looked to his shoulder and noticed the magic god sitting there with a stoic face.

"It's fine." He shrugged. "It's not like we're going to do anything dangerous, so what's the harm?" The moment he said that, Othinus shot Thor a smug look, which he ignored.

"Alright fine. Let's go on the trip for the legendary ice cream!" It's a bit colder than usual, so Touma put on his white hoodie, and his blue sports jacket over it. The scarf should help as well.

He's not a freak like the two people accompanying him. Thor's a magician who's not affected by weather, and Othinus is a magic god. There's nothing else that needs to be said about that.

Meanwhile, Kamijou is just an ordinary high school boy that actually has to worry about temperature. He has no ability that can stave off frostbite.

Unfortunately, he doesn't have money to spare on gloves either, so he stuffs his hands in his pockets while casually chatting with Thor.

"So, what have you been doing lately? It actually has been a while since we've last seen you." Thor and Kamijou left off on a fight while Kamijou was protecting Othinus against the world.

It was a high-stakes battle, but there's no bad blood between them. That's the nature of all the fights with Kamijou. He's really good at turning enemies into allies. All it takes is one good fist to the face, or a stern talking to.

Sometimes both.

"You know. Just seeing the sights, fighting people and saving people. All the good stuff." Thor's bright mood is conflicting Kamijou's sarcastic laughs.

"Yeah, all the good stuff. Right." He feels bad for those who had to fight Thor.

"But you know, all those fights end the moment I pull out Almighty Thor. You're the only one who can give me the satisfaction of a good fight." There was an odd emotion in those words that Kamijou couldn't pin down.

"Stay away from my human." Othinus peeked out over Kamijou's scarf and spat out those words. How could she not know what Thor was getting at? That was basically a prelude to a random battle he was ready to start.

"What can you do? You're nothing more than a small doll right now." Thor scoffed at her empty threat. Kamijou had to keep getting in between them whenever one said something that ticked the other off, which happened frequently.

"Alright, here we are!" Kamijou yelled out with relief. He can finally stop breaking up the verbal spats between his two…friends? Can Thor really be considered a friend?

Yeah, he can count as a friend. "What's this place?" They stopped at the ice cream parlor 326 Ice Cream.

Kamijou grinned like a shifty salesman. He knows Academy City better than anyone else, so he knows the best places to eat.

"This is the best place that sells ice cream. It has any flavor and it has the best taste. Hopefully this'll be good enough." He whispers that last part to himself. After Thor hinting it a bunch on the way here, even he realized that he was in the mood for a good fight.

_'__I really don't want to fight him at all. I just want to relax and live the life of a normal high schooler that doesn't have to worry about any incidents.' _Though if an incident pops up, he'll still jump in headfirst to save someone. Kamijou's definition of normal is definitely warped. It was probably warped from the very beginning.

"Ah, Kamijou-kun. I see you're not here with the nun." The owner of the ice cream parlor greeted Kamijou like they were old friends. Thor was thinking of what to order.

"I'll take a strawberry flavored one!" He grinned in anticipation. The owner nodded and got a scoop.

Touma just closed his eyes in thought. Would it really be this easy to satisfy Thor? He honestly doesn't know that much about him. Just his personality and his reasons for fighting.

"Ah, by the way…" Kamijou opened his eyes to see a sheepish Thor. "I actually don't have any money on me." He was rubbing the back of his head in false embarrassment. The high schooler only had one response to such an act.

"You think I'll pay for it? This Kamijou is a poor high schooler who already has to micromanage funds. There's no way that you can make me pay for your failure!" Thor let loose a dramatic sigh.

"Oh man. It would be so terrible if I picked a fight out of sadness. Kamijou-chan don't make me let loose right here and now." Thor smiled and caused Kamijou to twitch.

He's threatening him because he forgot to bring money. What kind of lunacy does it take for a person to do something like this?! Kamijou grumbled and complained, but he still brought out his wallet.

_'__Making me pay for you…just you wait magician. I'll get payback sooner or later.' _Kamijou kept his dangerously spiteful thoughts to himself.

He's only doing this to pacify the dangerous magician. He was Gremlin's number two. He's no pushover, and can even keep up with a saint. He's not an unreasonable person, but he still has the power to blow away a city or two.

"Here's your ice cream." The gentle man smiled as he passed it in a cone to Thor. Kamijou handed the money over with tears in his eyes.

Even if it was cheaper than what Index would consume, it still wasted money that he could've saved. He should've known that a peaceful day would bring misfortune.

"Is this fine now?" Othinus asked in place of Kamijou who was currently indisposed. He has to mentally recheck his funds for the future and make sure that he has enough money and groceries to keep everyone up and healthy.

"Hm? Oh yeah, I was just bored and wanted to come visit the local hero." Thor casually revealed the real reason for coming over. Kamijou's eyes started twitching erratically.

"Wait…so you wasted my money because you were bored?!" Thor must've sensed a threatening tone in his voice, so he quickly corrected a wrong assumption.

"Wait, I genuinely forgot to bring money though." He quickly waved his arms to offset the oncoming rage of a poor student. That's when Kamijou noticed where they were headed.

A strange district he's never been to. An abandoned part of Academy City where the only activity going on in this declining district is the testing of older technology.

District 19. When did Thor take the lead to this place? Kamijou didn't notice, but Othinus definitely did.

"You could've made a quick trip to pick up funds and come back. Why didn't you?" The tiny magic god looked around at the new setting. They're getting further from the people and going straight into an abandoned part of the city.

"I had to save the uses obviously." He looked at the magic god like she was an idiot. In his eyes, she might as well be one though. Thor's motivations for doing anything has always been simple.

He wants more power. He wants to get stronger. He needs to get more experience. The easiest way to do such a thing is to fight. His goal is obvious. It should've been obvious to anyone who has a rudimentary understanding of him.

However, Kamijou's way of wanting to live a life of normality prevented him from seeing this. Othinus, who designated Thor as the number two knows his habits quite well.

"Human, we need to get out of here." She whispered that to Kamijou right as he was putting the pieces together. Thor then finished up his delicious strawberry ice cream, and heinously littered the cone on the ground.

He turned around with an odd smile on his face and immediately activated his Almighty Thor spell. Kamijou prepared himself to take a blow, but was surprised when he didn't feel anything.

He then felt, or rather, didn't feel a certain weight that should've been on his right shoulder. _He noticed a certain 15-centimeter person struggling in Thor's left hand._

His eyes widened and immediately tried to reach for Othinus, but Thor held his right hand up. "Just wait a little bit there Kamijou-chan."

He stopped himself. He believes that Thor wouldn't do anything cheap like taking a hostage. _'He's not that kind of person, but what is he doing?' _He pulled out some tape and silenced the small magic god yelling expletives at the blonde magician. He pulled out some more tape and stopped all movement she could've done.

He stuffed her deep in his pocket and smiled at Kamijou. "Alright, I'm ready now. Come on and let's fight now. You got the proper motivation and you have the proper tools, so let's get to it!" He gestured at the abandoned factories around them.

"Thor." Kamijou called out his name, which made the magician focus on him. He smiled as he felt that his hopes and dreams would be answered, but they were dashed when he opened his mouth again.

"I refuse to fight you. There's no reason for this battle. There's no one who needs to be saved, and there's no one who's suffering. You're also not the kind of person who would take a hostage and use that to threaten someone. So, give Othinus back already!"

Thor's smile turned just a little bit cold. "I think you're misunderstanding something here Kamijou-chan."

"Huh?" He's never received that look from him before. He's faced grins of excitement and frowns of disappointment, but never a cold smile that looked at him like a real enemy…though it doesn't seem like it's aimed at him.

He looked down at the pocket containing his former boss. "There's no one to save, and no one in danger of us fighting. That means I can go all out without worrying. There's no conundrum of me choosing a fight to gain more power or choosing someone to save. There's only one choice to take, and I'll gladly reach for it!"

"To me, Othinus is a true monster. It doesn't matter if all of her power is gone, or if she gets endangered from this fight of ours. I can threaten you with her presence because of how much of a monster she is. She'll find a way to survive."

Kamijou grit his teeth at this blatant threat. He assumed that he got over being betrayed, but it seems that there was something deep rooted in his mind. Something like a poison that even threatened this magician's ideals. The normal him would never even use a hostage. This is…

"Don't you see Kamijou?" No honorifics this time. "The stage is set and you have your motivation. Now show me what Kamijou Touma can do!"

"I see now." Kamijou spat that out. "There were still some people who were unsatisfied with that conclusion." High Priest said that he couldn't get the 100% clear satisfaction for everybody, but that's no reason for those unsatisfied people to make other people unhappy.

_"__My enemy has certainly become pathetic." _Kamijou Touma threw those words at Thor. The same words that were thrown at him when they first met. Those words at least made him pause a little bit.

"Fine then. I'll at least break your illusions a little bit." He can never get a break.

"The last time we met, you won that fight. It's one to one now. This is the tiebreaker." Plasma extended out from his fingertips. He answered the unasked question. "My powers as a Lightning God has returned. We're starting from the bottom and ramping up." He grinned with excitement.

"To be honest, I tried to hold myself back for as long as possible, you know? But I saw what you did in England, and I just couldn't wait anymore!"

He was there? Watching everything that went on? Did he get involved and help others, or did he merely watch on?

"You…?" Does Kamijou even know Thor all that well? Could it be that his urge to desperately chase after a good fight can overpower his urge to save others?

"That's right! _I was so desperate for a rematch no matter what!" _That was the core of Thor. A magician that longs for a good fight. He finally found the perfect opponent and he can't let him go no matter what.

So, he'll use even the dirtiest tricks to force him into a fight. No, it's because of who he's fighting that he'll use the dirtiest tricks. Kamijou Touma is a person who can make even Thor renounce his morals. That's just how much of a perfect opponent he is for him.

Thor charged and swung both of his arms down in an X-formation. Kamijou threw his fist at the intersection of the plasma blades and blocked them both.

Imagine Breaker. Something that has always been with him his entire life. With the power to negate the supernatural, he's gotten in so many conflicts and resolved every last one of them he's been in.

The impact of blocking the attack was like solid concrete. He felt the rebound all the way to his wrist. He couldn't negate it. The rate of negation was slower than the rate of magic being supplied to keep the arc blades up.

But Thor didn't get off easy either. He felt the rebound to his fingers. A more delicate part of the body than the wrist. It's a battle of who will break first.

Thor continuously swings his arms at Kamijou who desperately tries to fend off every attack. Unlike last time, Thor isn't showing any signs of injury. He knowingly grins at his improvement.

"Getting better at healing spells has done wonder for shoring up my weaknesses. The best part is that I have you to thank for it! I never would've been able to grow in this way if it weren't for you." Those electric blue eyes were shining in delight.

Kamijou grits his teeth at the arc blades coming for his head. This time he grabbed onto the plasma that continuously regenerates itself with his right hand and diverted it to the side.

Thor's mouth opens in shock and joy as he sees a left hand curled up in a first aiming straight for his face. He takes it head on as he goes spinning.

Landing on his feet he charges right for Kamijou. "Isn't this fun?" In response, Kamijou throws a punch even harder than he did earlier. Thor can feel the creaking in his fingers, but he heals it immediately.

Meanwhile, the high school boy is suffering with bruised wrist. "There's no way I could be having fun in a fight! I don't like fighting!" That wasn't a satisfactory answer for the magician.

"Then…should we change the battlefield?" That question came from in front of him, but Thor was already behind him. He used the arc blades to act as boosters for high-speed movement.

With the strength granted to him by Megingjord, the actual belt of Thor's legend, he lifts Kamijou up and throws him into one of the factories.

The speed of the throw shattered glass as Kamijou fell and hit a railing. "Agh!" He must've fractured something. Touma looked up and his eyes widened.

Thor came spinning down with the arc blades. Kamijou raised his hand in the path. The collision broke the dented railing and the two fell to the bottom floor of the abandoned factory.

Kamijou rolled with the fall to avoid a foot crashing down on his gut. "This isn't enough…" Thor seemed to have wavered a little bit. He then extended his arc blades to an absurd length and began cutting up the entire factory.

He must've hit something combustible because the entire factory exploded.

Kamijou was sent flying out of the factory. "Damnit…" He could only choke that out as he began repeatedly coughing. He then started coughing up blood. Something important must've been damaged, but he can't stop now. He hasn't forgotten his goal. He needs to pacify Thor and save Othinus.

But how is he going to do that if Thor just keeps ramping things up?

Said magician casually walks out of the burning factory favoring his right leg. He eyes the several factories in the district and extends his arc blades to an even further amount.

"Thor, that's enough!" Thor responded with chilling words.

"It's never enough." And he ripped through all the factories.

Kamijou was forced to bring his body low to the ground as a searing heat washed over the battlefield. So much debris went flying all over the place. Some pieces of concrete were ripped up and stabbed into Kamijou's legs.

The explosion was ear-shattering and viewable from even the furthest parts of Academy City.

* * *

Fireworks started going off at the same time.

"Mmmmm…" A silver-haired nun started pouting. If Touma were to check his fridge at the time, he would despair at how low the food stocks have gotten.

"Touma's been out for a while now. He better not have gotten into something dangerous again!" She was stress eating from a lack of a certain high schooler lounging around their home.

She impulsively opened the door to the outside and that was when she saw smoke coming from far location. She quickly grew concerned as she fumbled a bit with her own phone.

"He's not picking up…" Touma told her to stay and watch the place, but what if he's in danger again?

She turned off the TV like Touma said to do for conserving electricity and left the apartment in a hurry. She ran off to the source of the explosion because she knows in her heart that Touma's at the center of it.

* * *

Kamijou received a punch to the bridge of the nose. He couldn't see it coming, but he still held on enough to send a counterattack of his own.

"I used up all of my energy as a Lightning God for now, so it's time to switch over. The fight's just starting Kamijou-chan!"

As expected, it hit nothing but air. Thor using his Almighty Thor spell is nigh-unbeatable in a one-on-one scenario.

There are exceptions but…

"Not this time Kamijou-chan. I destroyed everything that could get in the way of our precious fight. We're going to settle this on our own terms without any interference! The EXP I can get from this will finally allow me to reach the stars under my own power!"

He needs to think.

Another punch. Is there anything else that can make him switch targets, or something else that can come slam into him without him noticing? There has to be a way to win. There's no such thing as an unbeatable spell.

Multiple blows rain on his battered body. Wait, isn't he thinking about this wrong? All he needs to do is throw the target of the spell off. It's based on eyesight…so he needs to cover it!

Kamijou delivers a back kick on nothing but pure instinct, and the earth _moved _Thor into the perfect spot for a counterattack.

The kick naturally missed. Kamijou is never lucky, and even if he was, luck just isn't a factor in that spell. He got kicked right in the side of the head and laid out on the ground. His brain rattled in his skull and he was nearly knocked unconscious.

"He he he. Only you can surprise me like this. You can still keep going, right?" He sounded so euphoric. He looked up at his 'target' but all he saw was a blue sports jacket in mid-air obscuring his view.

It's why he didn't see a fist barreling straight towards his jaw. It was buffered by the jacket, but he still felt the wonderful pain all the same.

Kamijou found a way to temporarily circumvent the Almighty Thor. He held out his sports jacket like a capote. Kamijou knows nothing about bullfighting, but he's acting like an experienced bullfighter with Thor being the bull.

"That's still not enough!" Even with his target being obscured, he can just switch his target to the jacket and move behind it. With that, Kamijou received another hit to the skull.

_'__This isn't good. I'm starting to black out.' _He can feel his body start to wear down. He has to win though.

Thor's also starting to wear down though. Getting caught up in a large explosion messed up the both of them. _'Wait, why hasn't he healed those injuries? His fingers are fine, but why didn't he fix up the rest of his body?'_

That hint isn't going to help him win this fight though. He needs to hang on and wait for the perfect opportunity.

"Kamijou-chan. It's been fun and I'm actually pretty satisfied now, but it's time to finish this." Those ominous words told Kamijou what exactly was going to happen next.

He then felt an innumerable amount of attacks all over his body. Thor's using up every bit of his uses of Almighty Thor to take a complete victory.

It's over. "That was a generous amount of experience you gave me. I think I can finally see over the wall. I'll give you the pathetic god back I guess." He can barely hear Thor's voice. It's like he's underwater.

He must look like a sorry sight right now. His whole body is colored purple and red with all the bruises and blood all over him.

In his blurry sight, he saw a silver-haired nun who looked like she was on the verge of tears. He refuses to let her cry like that. That's right. Everything is this crazy magician's fault. He couldn't let go of a grudge and that dug in along with his resolve to fight and save. His ideals were tainted and Kamijou never saw.

"Touma!" Everything suddenly became clear. He caught himself on the ground with his right hand and pulled Thor towards him with his left hand. _'Right here and now...I'll open your eyes from this illusion!'_

"It's not over till it's over, right?!" Thor grew even more excited, but he hit the daily limit for his usage of his Almighty Thor spell. If he uses it again and throws the world's skew out of normalcy who knows what'll happen.

"Thoooooooooooooor!" Kamijou's grip on Thor's left arm tightened and he was yanked downwards. He has no choice but to take this fist if he wants this to be a normal conclusion.

But he just can't let go of this fight that easily. If Kamijou is showing him this amount of fighting spirit, he has to respond with the same!

Kamijou's right fist clenched tightly as it came up in an uppercut. Thor activated the spell and both of them were thrown off, but not before Thor received the final hit.

Kamijou Touma, Thor, and Othinus slipped right off the world and were thrown into another one.

The ordinary high school boy crashed through building. The powerful magician and the tiny magic god were thrown into a field of snow. The three were completely separated in this new world.

* * *

"Oh Master! There's a big fight going on. Take your head out of the paperwork and come see!" An odd floating person repeatedly poked an albino with his face on the desk. This albino is almost regretting taking up this position. He looks up at the jellyfish demon thing and glares at her.

"No, not at me. At that." Accelerator looks outside and sees a large plume of smoke. _'It better not be that dumbass again. He's always causing so much paperwork!'_ He created tornadoes for wings and flew over to the mess that'll definitely end up as more paperwork for him to deal with.

What remains there for him is a nun on her knees and nothing else. He recognizes this nun. "Oi, what the hell happened here?" He almost flinches back at the aura of sadness that crashes into him when she looks at him.

"Touma's...gone." He doesn't know how to feel about that. The idiot always vanishes when someone needs help, but from the way she said it, this definitely wasn't something of his own accord.

"What." He had no other words to react to such a crazy situation. _'Goddamnit! Always causing trouble!'_ He pulls out his phone to call for help. He's at least going to try to find out where he went.

And then maybe he'll beat the shit out of him for being a source of worry.


	2. A Small Shift

**Two of my precious chapters got annihilated by my computer crashing. I tried to get them back, but the format got butchered like a cow. Had to rewrite everything, and it sucked. Good thing that my memory isn't that bad. Onto reviews.**

**Kuma098: Please remember the joke.**

**Darkbetrayer: Hardcore yaoi. The lemons are gonna be ones for the ages. Prepare yourself and strap in for the gayest fanfic you'll ever see in your life. (Not)**

**Healthcare: See above. Also I hope you enjoy the rest of what I'm gonna write.**

**Memedevil: You're getting your DxD characters this chapter.**

**BlueJack22: Accel is suffering.**

**Eberwein: Yup. Takes place after NT22R.**

**Thereisaperv: Who knows. It could happen in the future.**

**FinzDragzer: Yup.**

**Sagnik Deb: There's no way I'm doing this story without showing everything interesting.**

**Shiroryuu012: I hope to write more.**

**kamitouma829: I'll continue for as much as I can.**

**Thanks for the reviews everyone. I hope to live up to your expectations.**

* * *

Chapter 1: Separate_Divergences

Kamijou Touma was not knocked unconscious from being thrown through a building. The hole left by him is in full view for everyone to see. Contrary to popular belief, even an assumed masochist like him doesn't like it when his body is littered with glass shards.

He pulls himself to a sitting position with a groan and pulls out all the glass shards in his legs and back. The momentum from being thrown into a different world had to bleed off somehow."

"Where am I?" He asked that out loud. He hoped that anyone could answer his question, but all of the patrons in this building, which he now noticed was a restaurant, are either staring at him or the hole.

"He raised an eyebrow. "Um…hello?" He awkwardly waved his left hand towards them, and that finally snapped them out of the trance they were in.

To be fair, pure confusion is the proper and ordinary response to seeing a teenager blow a hole through a wall with their body. "Hey, are you alright?!" One of the bystanders went over to him and checked out his legs.

His pants aren't in good shape at all. Concrete tore up his legs and he's still pulling out glass shards. He's used to pain, so he doesn't so much as flinch when doing it.

"Me? Oh, don't worry about that. This misfortunate Kamijou is used to things like this happening daily." The moment he said that he had to mentally go over his daily life. It's kind of depressing when one thinks about how unlucky he is. Kamijou realized that as well and just sighed. "Yeah…this is just par for the course." He tries to stand up and leave, but he's stopped by someone.

"H-hey, are you just gonna go out and leave like that?" Another bystander shows concern for him. _'Well, that is the normal response, but where is Anti-Skill?'_ They should actually be here by now. Whenever there's a commotion in Academy City, they're always responding on time as soon as possible.

Especially for Kamijou Touma. Every time he got wrapped in an incident, or there's a mess around him, they hit hyper-speed in their response times for some reason. When they do arrive, they just blame him for what happened.

He remembers that happening when he first met Thor. He's just that unlucky. "Just wait, we'll get some bandages." Another person chips in. This kindness shown to Kamijou would normally make him tear up in happiness because of the rarity of it.

'He has already experienced misfortune after fighting Thor, so shouldn't this be the payoff of good luck after bad luck?' That's what a normal person would think. Kamijou is a person devoid of any luck, so the only payoff for misfortune is more misfortune.

Something this good happening to him must have a dark lining to it. Once he yanked all of the glass shards out, people came out with some disinfectant and bandages. They ignored Kamijou saying he could do this by himself.

_'I'm really not used to good things happening to me…'_ He checked his right hand to see if it was still connected to him, which it was. Imagine Breaker should be negating all the luck around him as usual.

Right now, he's just waiting for the other shoe to drop. "Alright done." The man grinned with inhumanly sharp teeth. "Sure you don't need an ambulance, buddy?"

"Ah, don't worry. I'm used to this stuff. Thanks for the help everyone!" Kamijou called out to the surprisingly nice crowd. He was about to leave when the bartender in this restaurant clamped down on his shoulder.

"Now, now, now. You didn't think you could leave without paying for the windows and the walls, did you?" An ominous voice sucked away all the warmth in the building. Kamijou stiffened.

He looked around him for help, but all he saw were looks of schadenfreude. Now he knew why people were kind to him. They completely expected this to happen. "U-um…" He took out his wallet and opened it. That's when he realized that he should've taken the offer to go in an ambulance.

He had some money earlier. He know he did. He paid for Thor's ice cream, but he still should've had more. Where did it all go?!

"Kamijou grimaced and turned around him with a sheepish smile. "Could you put it on my tab?" The barkeeper smiled serenely and the pressure on Kamijou's shoulder grew much tighter.

"Work it off!" He yelled extremely loud at him. Everyone's looks of schadenfreude were blown away along with their eardrums, and Kamijou? He looked dead on his feet.

He hasn't said this in a while, but it's time for the phrase to make a return. They are the perfect words for this inescapable situation.

"Such misfortune."

* * *

Kamijou Touma isn't the only one going through misfortune right now. The other two people who were caught up in world travel are dealing with something pretty annoying right now as well.

"Damnit. I should've just given you back to Kamijou-chan." Thor is complaining about being stuck with his former boss. He would've thrown her in a ditch somewhere if it weren't for her being important to his rival. Yes, rival. He designated Kamijou as his rival because he's the perfect opponent to go all out against. No need to worry about a calamity spilling over to innocents because he'll always be there to negate the worst of it.

"We wouldn't be in this situation if you weren't so hungry for a battle and causing trouble for everyone around you." Othinus spat that out in extreme irritation. Thor is the last person she wants to be around right now.

"Excuse me? Did I hear someone begging to be taped up again?" Othinus wisely stopped talking. "That's what I thought. You're nothing more than a pitiful fairy. Why does Kamijou-chan keep you around anyway?" He sneered at her.

"A reason that you will never understand." Like Othinus would ever explain the depths of their relationship to anyone, let alone Thor. He just clicked his teeth at the response. There's a reason why he removed her binds. He needs the magical knowledge of a magic god. That's all she's good for right now anyway.

"So, you figured out why Almighty Thor isn't working?" He just wants to get back to Kamijou and continue the fight. He's extremely annoyed that he can't do that right now. He's annoyed, stuck walking in the snow in another country, and stuck together with another annoyed person who he's annoyed with.

"You most likely used it too much. You have limits so you don't skew the world, and you went past it. That's why you were thrown off into another part of the world."

"You sure do like to explain things, tch. Kamijou-chan probably got thrown off with me too." Othinus ignored the insult and focused in on the last part.

"What." That tone made him suck in a cold breath. Even if she lost all her power, she hasn't lost any of her pride or majesty as a magic god. Thor had to force down the instinctive response to bow down to her.

"He landed one last punch on me even after I activated the spell. The delay told me something weird was about to happen, but he got caught up in it too. There was nothing to negate as well because it moves the world." He started grinning to himself.

"Damnit, and he showed some nice fighting spirit at the end there. I wanted to see that all the way through, but we were interrupted because of my own carelessness. That's a draw. We're definitely going to settle this the next time we meet."

Thor's already looking forward to the next time they get into a fight. It always comes to that. Every time they met, it has always ended in a fight. Thor won the first one, Kamijou won the second one, and this third one was designated as a draw. He's not going to let this next one end in any way but a total loss or victory.

"We're in Denmark." The magic god sounded so sure of her claim. Thor nodded to that.

"Yeah, you're most likely right. The surroundings look a bit familiar. Probably because I intercepted Kamijou-chan here while you two eloped." The choice of words embarrassed Othinus. Thor's mocking tone didn't help with how his words were meant to be interpreted either.

"What are you saying now?" There was a subtle demand in the question for Thor to amend his statement. Unfortunately, Thor really doesn't like his former boss to say the least.

"Hm? I mean whose parents would ever approve of someone like you? You're rude, brash, irritating, too tiny, bitchy, and did I say too tiny?" It was obvious what the blonde magician wanted to do. Since he can't physically harm the magic god, else he risk a certain rival's wrath, he'll just piss her off for as long as they're together.

"Your attempts at angering me are failing." The attempts are definitely succeeding. "Say, isn't this where you were ran over by a train?" She tried to annoy Thor with a loss he never saw coming, but it failed spectacularly.

"Oh yeah!" There was an odd inflection in those words, like he felt extreme joy at losing to Kamijou. "It was something I never expected…something so wonderful. That's why I gotta experience it again by fighting him. Anyways, enough with the chatter. We have a town to explore!" He pointed onwards and Othinus followed his sight.

What laid before them was a town obviously rife with supernatural influences. So much so, that they didn't even bother hiding it from the locals.

"Something like this was never here before, yet it's acting like it was for a while." Othinus is a magic god who has seen the rise and falls of civilizations before. She's also a Norse magic god that knows basically everything about the Scandinavian region. This small place before her was not in her memory. Thor got all that from that one sentence. _'__The perks of formerly working under her no matter if I liked it or not, I guess. Though I really didn't like it.'_

"Well, let's check out this mystery town." Thor and Othinus walk to the entrance of the supernatural town that hides nothing.

* * *

At the same time they're doing that, Kamijou Touma was roped into something ridiculous. He was forced to do something that he has no experience in to make up for the damage he caused in the building.

"Why do I have to serve as a waiter! I don't have the skills for this, and what if I mess up and spill stuff on the customers?!" The bartender who forced this role onto the poor high school student merely grinned with teeth that are too sharp for a normal human.

Kamijou's hoodie was stripped away and he was forced into proper clothes for a waiter. The owner provided him with a red dress shirt and a black vest. The clothing looked oddly fitting on him. He also had to get fresh black pants for the poor Kamijou who could never afford clothing like this. He looked at the owner and knew that if he ruined these clothes he would be in debt for the rest of his life.

"Well then, that'll be on you now wouldn't it?" Kamijou flinched at being thrown into the deep end. "Plus you're already calling them customers. I think that you're perfect for the job."

The bartender/owner of the restaurant patted his back and handed him something that one of the customers ordered. He sighed at this train of bad luck. Once he gets some free time, he's going to call Index and free her of any worries. He'll probably have to endure a hail of bites once he returns, but that's fine. He should've known that Thor wouldn't have come just for ice cream. He's just too hopeful sometimes.

That's the way that he is though. Ever since the 28th of July. He lost his memories and took up the heart of his past self to protect others. There's a been a small doubt niggling in his brain about something though. "Here's your order, sir…" He let out another sigh and focused on the temporary job instead of thinking pessimistic thoughts.

He walked over to the bartender with hopeful thoughts, only for them to be dashed when he was handed a large tray. The bartender merely smiled, and Kamijou got the message.

_'When I find Thor, I'm definitely going to punch him in the face. No force in the world is going to prevent that desire of mine!' _He made an oath to himself as he delivered the tray filled with nothing but Sake.

The rowdy group sitting by a table seemed to be talking about some exploits. "Oi, brat. The Sake's for this table." One of the people behind him grabbed his shoulder. He knows that they aren't the ones who asked for this tray, but they don't look like they'll go away peacefully. They actually seem like they want to start a fight for no reason.

The smart thing to do would be to pacify them by giving them the tray of alcohol. "What? No, the drinks are for these guys." He says that with a tone that conveyed how obvious what his next action was going to be. Kamijou did the right thing and placed the tray on the correct table.

Let it be known that Kamijou isn't the sharpest tool in the shed. "Are you messing with me brat?!" A very large man, the same one who basically demanded the alcohol, stormed up to Kamijou and lifted him by the collar.

"W-what? Wait, hold on a second! You didn't even pay for anything yet!" Kamijou attempted to remove his grip, but the instant that his right hand touched the man's hand, something strange happened. It was like an illusion was being undone. The sound of glass shattering echoed throughout the restaurant as everyone looked at the confrontation with expectant gazes. They were bored and wanted to see some entertainment, but what they got was unexpected.

The human male revealed his true form as an even larger man with two horns jutting out from his head. Kamijou isn't a very studious person. Everyone who knows him knows this well. After the amnesia episode, it can be said that he's even less of a studious person, but not even he could misrecognize Japanese myths.

A horned, hulking figure could only be one thing. "An Oni?! I didn't sign up for this!" The Oni was completely baffled when his transformation was blown away.

"What did you do?!" _'Eh, what do you mean? I just touched him with my right…hand. Oh.'_ His eyes turned to the bartender as he begged wordlessly to be released. The man simply smiled and walked over to them. Kamijou's eyes gained light as he finally thought his hopes would be answered.

"You didn't know? Kid, this is a restaurant for Youkai." He grinned and showed off those sharp teeth that told Kamijou that those weren't just for show. With his collar being gripped by a muscular Oni, and the realization that he was surrounded by a bunch of Youkai. There's no other way to react in this hopeless situation.

"Such misfortune." He sighed. This is basically another Tuesday for him. There's always something that shakes his worldview as he knows it.

_'Why the hell are there Youkai in Academy City? And apparently, it's a restaurant for them?! Why didn't Aleister tell me about this? Wait, Accelerator should know about this. So that means… Accelerator, why didn't you tell me about this?!'_

Kamijou's internal thoughts are undergoing Armageddon. The bartender decided to show mercy from seeing this sight. "You can take five, I'll handle the rest." The owner looked towards the Oni and he let go of Kamijou. Kamijou wordlessly accepted this parley and escaped to the back of the counter. He sat down against the wall and took deep breathes to regain a calm state of mind.

"Alright, so there are Youkai here now. They aren't doing anything bad, so I guess it's fine." Kamijou is super confused at the moment. It was then that his phone started ringing. He was going to call Index, but an unknown number appeared. He looked at his questionably then decided to pick up. "Um, who is this?"

"Hey, Kamijou-chan." He was cheerfully greeted by a familiar voice. A voice that he's a bit ticked off at. His right hand instinctively balled itself up into the shape of a fist.

"Oh, it's you." He thought he hid the irritation quite well, but it still managed to seep through his voice. That's just how annoyed Kamijou is. Thor managed to picked up on it, but he didn't reveal his inner thoughts about the fight they just had earlier.

"Yup, yup, it's me. Listen, Almighty Thor threw us far off. The world got skewed because I used it too many time." Threw off? The wording seemed a bit strange.

"Who cares about that. Where is Othinus?!" His concern for his partner bled through even all of his exasperation. After all, there's no one who understands him more than Othinus. There's no way he wouldn't show the highest amounts of concern for her wellbeing.

Kamijou heard a bit of shuffling over the phone and a bit of Thor's complaining. His confusion was only momentary. "Your concern is appreciated, but unnecessary. We shall be returning soon." He let loose a sigh of relief.

Othinus was okay and didn't get thrown off from Thor. Now he just has to hope that they won't try to kill each other. "But, why can't you just come here now?"

"Ah, I'll explain that!" Thor took over. "I broke my spell from using it too many times, so now I can't even activate it. So, we're taking the long road home. But before that, there's a strange town we wandered into, so we're going to explore that. Bye!" He hung up before Kamijou could get another word in edgewise. His tone seemed a bit...hurried?

"Hope he gets hit by another train…" He mumbled to himself. He turned off his phone to conserve electricity. The prowess of a poor high schooler is not to be underestimated. Even now he's still thinking of nothing but conservation to save the most amount of money. That phone call made his idea of calling Index slip from his mind.

"Done with your phone call?" Kamijou looked up to see his perpetually-smiling temporary boss. He nodded and pocketed his phone. "Your shift hasn't ended yet, you know. My wall still has a nice you-shaped hole in it."

Kamijou grinned in derision at his attempt to make him feel guilt. "Nice try, but your words cannot guilt-trip this Kamijou into feeling bad. I'm only working to repay you and nothing else. No guilt here at all!" He pointed to his head with a grin.

He truly doesn't feel bad for the commotion he made at all. Mostly because he's too tired to feel that way. The other half is him feeling a bit gutsy with no one around.

This is the real Kamijou Touma. Even before he lost his memory, he was a person with delinquent-like behavior. He is truly an unrestrained person when none of his allies are around.

At that moment, the chime of a bell rang out.

"Hey, owner Su! Long time no see." A short old man with a gourd-shaped head strolled in with a large group of people following behind. In Kamijou's eyes, they resembled the Yakuza. His delinquent powers are no match for this evolved group.

It's at this moment that he starts to get the impression that he's no longer in Academy City right now. Even he would notice groups like these sprouting up. He's also pretty sure that with his luck, he would've run into one of these Youkai.

"Nurarihyon." The owner smiled and nodded. "What can I get for all of you?" They all shouted their orders in a cacophony of gibberish that no one could possibly understand.

"Understood, I'll have it ready soon." Except for this inhuman owner who upturned all of Kamijou's previous notions about the world. No person could possibly keep track of all the orders and sounds that roared in the restaurant.

"Such misfortune." He's been saying that quite frequently, but he feels that the newest problem is the perfect use for that phrase. The way the owner side-eyed him when he went towards the back to prepare a meal told him all he didn't want to know. He's going to be the one to carry the food and drinks to all those tables that suddenly freed up.

"Huh? Why did everyone leave?" He didn't notice that when the Yakuza-like group strolled in, everyone left. It was a rehearsed action, like it was expected for the common Youkai to leave the rest of the restaurant to this group.

"Here's everything." The owner came out almost immediately with a large tray that could barely fit in his hands. He's expected to carry that to make up for the hole in the wall. He refuses to be put in debt! He carries the tray with all the grace of a one-legged chicken as he struggles not to drop it. His determination eventually carried him to the multiple tables. When he set the extra-large tray on one of the tables, nearly everyone jumped.

Almost none of the Youkai noticed his presence, which is natural. The Imagine Breaker that Kamijou Touma carries prevents him from using any ability or casting any magic. There's quite literally, nothing to sense around him. This void in their senses caused the supernatural creatures to nearly have a heart attack.

He's not a complete ghost though as shown by the few people who didn't jump. He can be smelled or heard like any normal human. "Alright! Here's the stuff for everyone. Enjoy!" He ran before they could dive on the large tray with him in the way.

A large commotion behind him went on. All he's feeling is relief for not being caught up in that. He should know that he can never escape possible misfortune though. "Yo!" The same old man who strolled in like a Yakuza boss came up and tapped Kamijou on the side. The younger student turned around and look downwards to see a mischievous looking old man. He didn't want anything to do with someone carrying that look on their face.

"Ah, come on. Don't ignore me like that." Kamijou tried to walk away but the tap turned into a grip. He started sweating. "So, how'd you land a job working as a waiter here? This guy just doesn't hire anyone at all." He's purely curious.

"Well…" Since he's only curious, it couldn't hurt to inform him. "I crashed in here and made a hole in the wall by accident." He's still feeling a bit bashful from that minor incident.

"I see, I see." The old man named Nurarihyon stroked his imaginary beard as he pictured the sight. "It seems like you've been through a lot. Come and have a drink with us." Even if Kamijou would've tried to walk away, it wouldn't have worked. Everyone came out of nowhere and dragged him to a seat while he looked towards the bartender who pretended nothing was happening.

"Oi, Retsuza. Get this kid a drink." Said Retsuza took one look at Kamijou's face and decided he legitimately needed one. He dumped a large glass filled with Sake in front of him.

Kamijou gulped when he saw it. People always say that he should keep away from alcohol because consuming it awakens something terrifying, but that was only the idiots around him, like Aogami and Tsuchimikado. One is a fetish king and the other is a siscon, so their words have as much trust as Thor's.

"Maybe it won't hurt…no I won't give in to peer pressure! Drinking is illegal and it will be harmful to my school records!" Kamijou gained a strange determination that swelled from an unknown location. He resolved himself of any doubts. There's no way he'll drink again. He won't evolve his delinquent title.

"Come on bro! What're your school records even looking like? They won't care for something they won't know, right?" Kamijou heard something damaging to his mental state.

'What're your school records even looking like?' Those words inflicted a direct injury to his soul that he will never recover from. He stared at the alcohol in front of him then unrepentantly used the alcohol in front of him to drown out the pain. His school records are terrible because of the journeys he's forced to make.

It's not his fault. Honest! "Goddamniiiiiiiit!"

And so he chugged the large glass of Sake. Delinquent Kamijou Touma has evolved into Criminal Kamijou Touma.

"Ooooooooooh! Chug! Chug! Chug! Chug! He did it!" A bunch of Youkai have basically surrendered their human forms and lost all sense of dignity. The party is just getting started.

* * *

Kamijou has finished the seventh glass of Sake, and he has become completely shitfaced. His tie has completely loosened by this point.

The old man that was there previously was replaced by a man who looked much younger. "Well, damn. Didn't think the brat had it in him. Good job Kumowatari." He resembled a tall human, but his features exuded a Youkai-like aura.

"Eh? No problem commander. This kid's weird though." What used to be a regular person that convinced Kamijou into drinking is now a lightning beast resembling a dog. Nurarihyon hummed to himself while analyzing the obviously drunk Kamijou with golden eyes.

"I've decided." His voice oozing charisma echoed throughout the ears of his subordinates. "This lively human is temporarily joining our night parade." The Night Parade of 100 Demons. It's a yearly event the Nurarihyon schedules around this time to create an air of fear in the city of Kyoto.

Basically, all the Youkai in his gang invade the houses of everyone and eat and drink everything in the fridge. It used to be a lot more chaotic, but then the actual ruler of the Japanese Youkai, Yasaka came down on him hard for nearly revealing the existence of the supernatural.

It's time for him to return to those chaotic days. _'Honestly, what's the problem with humans knowing about the supernatural? It was like that back in the day.'_ The main problem with inviting Kamijou is going to be his human status though. That shouldn't be a problem though. He'll get his way. He always does.

Of course his decision was naturally met with some minor complaints. It's not like he's a tyrant who won't accept any dissenting opinions in his group. "Commander?" The quiet Retsuza only said one word, which conveyed his confusion.

"He's got the liveliness, and he has the sneakiness. None of us can sense him with magic nor Youjutsu right? Look how he's shining in here." The leader Youkai smiles as he sees his subordinates being rowdy with the human. _'Honestly though, is he even a human?'_ He can't sense anything from him at all. He would have registered as nothing more than a phantom had he not smelled like anything.

"Well, okay." His second-in-command, Retsuza agreed. Everyone followed suit once the stoic one agreed. Nurarihyon's plan is coming to fruition. He grinned because all that's left is to convince the human. In his mind, no one can ignore his charisma. No one has been able to ignore his charisma so far, so it's not unfounded arrogance.

"So, what's your name kid?" The Youkai commander swaggered up to Kamijou Touma with an assured grin on his face.

"Kamijou Touma?" The drunk high schooler said it in a confused tone. He's so plastered that he doesn't even know what he's doing or where he is. He's swaying in his seat with a flushed face.

"That's a good name. So, what do you say to joining my little posse for a night of fun?" Kamijou's record of causing chaos is even going to be started in another world, but…

"I refuse." His refusal shocked everyone there. Even the bartender who was about head over there and stop what was going to be uncontrolled chaos froze. The owner was going to free him from his temporary job. He's a Youkai. It's natural for supernatural beings like him to mess with humans. Now, he feels like he's the one being messed with.

Everyone's faces are looking very interesting right now. Kamijou's flushed cheeks regained their natural color. The look in his eyes showed great clarity and wisdom.

Nothing can top the look on Nurarihyon's face though. When was the last time he's ever been refused? "Why?" That's all he can say. The sight of Kamijou being sober disappeared and the flushed cheeks and unfocused eyes came back. He was ready to illuminate everyone on his refusal.

They all saw his serious face when saying no. Naturally, they're going to be very curious. What kind of reason does the teenager have for not going along with a fun night?

And so Kamijou Touma spoke with the experience of a poor high schooler who has seen darkness.

"Why? What do you mean why? You tried to solicit a minor for sex! I don't want a part of your depravity! Keep away from my body!" Kamijou drunkenly ran out, but not before he grabbed his hoodie from the bartender's hands. No one stopped him because they were all dumbfounded from the misunderstanding. "Wait…" Nurarihyon unfroze and realized how he sounded. Does that mean all the times he's said that to someone, they thought he was soliciting them?

"Wait!" He chased after Kamijou to correct this misunderstanding. He refuses to have his name besmirched and dragged through the mud!

He didn't realize that due to the amount of people he's said that to, his reputation is already in tatters. His subordinates didn't have the heart to reveal such a cruel truth to him though.

"Wait boss!" Everyone chased after him as well. It was a stampede of 100 demons with Kamijou leading the front. There were Tengu, Yuki-Onna, Raiju, Kamaitachi, and all sorts of creatures born straight out of mythology.

Kamijou saw this and somewhat sobered up in fear and corrected his running stance. He doesn't know why he's being chased. Did he say something wrong? All he did was try to run away from a potential pedophile. He wasn't wrong, was he?

He snuck through the alleyways of Kyoto and hid from the Youkai's magic senses. They had to rely on their sense of smell and hearing to track him.

"Yasaka's gonna have my ass for this one…" Nurarihyon said that, but he was smiling like he didn't care. He might as well get drunk a little bit on this night too. Anything to cause even more chaos. Nurarihyon's character is just like that. A savage gang boss who revels in chaos. It's only during these times where he can let himself and his whole gang fully loose. All their inhibitions have totally vanished.

Meanwhile the owner was cleaning dishes. "You all just dined and dashed in my restaurant..." A stormy look generated a fearsome expression on his face.

* * *

"Hmmmm…" Kamijou seems to be thinking extremely hard. "Pretty lights…" Oh wait, that's a mistake. Drunk Kamijou's inhibitions have also all depleted, so he's freely checking out Kyoto even though he should he running for his life.

He somehow scrounged up some luck and evaded the Youkai who were trying to find him. Not even Nurarihyon was able to track him down.

To be fair, that special Youkai is known for sensing people through magic. He isn't specialized in tracking. Give him someone to deceive, and he'll be able to do it with his eyes closed. Trying to find Kamijou Touma though might as well be impossible for him. That's why he's a commander of a group of Youkai. All he needs to do is rely on his subordinates to pick up on his scent.

"We found him boss!" Lo and behold, if he depends on his dear comrades, there's nothing he can't do. He's smirking right now. Things diverged from the plan, but that's okay. It might even turn out better than he originally planned. "Alright. Let's start the Night Parade of 100 Demons." His calm, assured voice carried over his group. The smiles they all donned could truly put _fear_ anything. Even God.

They started by all spreading out to raid houses and cause as much fear as possible in the city. Yasaka wanted them to limit themselves to Kyoto, so limit themselves they shall. All of Kyoto will know the fear of the monsters under the bed and in their closets. If they find out too much, then they have to unfortunately erase some memories.

At least she never denied that they couldn't raid the houses of humans though. "What a wonderful night… Kumowatari, you're with me." The two set out to hunt down an odd human while basking in the light of the full moon.

* * *

"Boss, everything is ready." A man wearing glasses is reporting to someone wearing a gakuran. The short-haired man received the news and he's preparing something.

"I see. The Youkai will be a bit distracted thanks to their yearly chaos, so this is the perfect chance. We will take Yasaka and open the Dragon's Gate with her." The man oozes a strong amount of charisma.

"You sure about this Cao Cao?" A silver-haired stoic man questioned the charismatic leader. "Summoning Great Red will be troublesome."

"No need to worry Siegfried. We have something special just for a dragon as great as him. It would be even better if Ophis sensed him and came running…yes that would be perfect." He glanced over at Georg who nodded.

"Jeanne." He said one word and a blonde girl cheerfully replied. Her bright and bubbly nature is a welcome reprieve from the serious mood that took over their group.

"No worries boss! Connia, Heracles, and Leonardo are in position." Cao Cao, satisfied by this, prepared to break into the shrine of the ruler of all Youkai in Japan. He managed to expertly delegate his groups to the points where the shine the most. His group's goal is to capture Yasaka.

"Heya. Whatcha guys doing over there?" He would've started it right now, but then an surprise interruption came from behind them. No one there sensed this ghostly person.

This phantom seemed to be drunk based on his slurring words.. Thankfully, said drunk was coherent enough to relay his thoughts. "You guyssss…lookin' like you preparin' to sneak and snatch." None of the planners were prepared at all to see a regular human just walk out so far. _'Isn't it nighttime? What's someone doing out here? Especially in Youkai territory? Don't they have fields that chase regular people away?'_

Cao Cao only paused for just moment at this odd sight. "Georg, remove this person from the premises." The glasses-wearing magician nodded and then smirked. A strange purple-tinted mist started flowing out of his body and reached for Kamijou.

Kamijou didn't notice the danger of the blatantly supernatural mist. "Oh, cotton candy!" He released a weird giggle that no lady should ever hear and reached for the mist with his right hand. A strange sound rang out and all the mist was blown apart like it was never there in the first place.

"W…hat?!" Georg's glasses nearly slipped off his face in shock. Everyone else besides Cao Cao revealed some surprise of their own.

"Ahhhhhhhh, it's not fair! Every time I want to get something to eat, I can never have it! Is it this Kamijou's fate to always have a meal slip out of his hands?!" Maybe it was because of his drunkenness that he casually revealed a tragic side of his life. Maybe he would've complained anyway had he been sober, but he wouldn't have mistaken Dimension Lost's purple mist as cotton candy in the first place.

"Georg, what happened?" Cao Cao looked over at the magician to see him double over in shock as he held his chest. The moment Kamijou touched the mist, it fell apart and he felt a coldness in his chest, like his Sacred Gear was about to be ripped apart.

"Dangerous…" He said that one word, and regained his composure. The sweat dripping down his face belies his inner state. Cao Cao thought to himself for a moment. The person in front of him looks human and isn't hostile as well. This could be a good chance to recruit him for his just cause. He needs to sober up before they have a proper conversation though.

They also need to take Yasaka… "Jeanne, contact group two. We're setting the mission back a little bit. We need to gather some more information." A possible ally can quickly turn into an enemy.

"There you are you damn brat!" All the humans in the area turned to two Youkai. One of them wore a belligerent smirk, and the lightning beast was staring at the other group. "Eh? You met up with some more brats? Geez…might as well drag you guys in as well and distract Yasaka. I can tell you all are affiliated with the supernatural so come on, let's go!"

"Hold on." Nurarihyon didn't hold on. He didn't even give them the smallest chance to refuse. Everyone got sucked into his pace with his lingering subordinate wearing a smile of schadenfreude. Cao Cao and his faction was merely dumbfounded about how they all got swept up in Youjutsu.

Nurarihyon busted open the gates and a very voluptuous Kitsune came to greet him with an irritated look. A smaller kitsune stood to the side. "Ah, the milf and the miss princess! Great to see you guys.

"Nurarihyon, what are you doing?" The question was redundant. She knew exactly what he was doing. What she hoped was that the unstated threat would be enough to have him back off.

She underestimated him though. He came in with a group of humans affiliated with the supernatural and one extremely ordinary human being who was already drunk. Kamijou just went along with the mood and saw a nice bodied woman right in front of him. He was about to loudly compliment her in drunken rambles, but then his eyes fell on who he assumed to be her daughter. He clicked his tongue.

"Netorare is a trash fetish." He whispered that to himself. Everyone twitched. They knew exactly what he was thinking.

"Let's party everybody!" Nurarihyon smacked the back of his subordinate who dropped barrels of alcohol. He was smiling, but it was so obvious that he was crying on the inside. Obvious to all except one who looked like he was about to doze off.

"Mother, why are there so many people here? It's usually only uncle Nura." Yasaka wanted to sigh.

"I can make a guess Kunou…" Cao Cao reluctantly ordered his group to enjoy the festivities and gleam some information. He's analyzing the inside of the building to further improve his plan. At least no one found out about what they were going to do.

All his thoughts were interrupted when he was slapped on the back. "What're you lookin' so scary like that for man? Let's have some fun!" His brow is twitching from the overly familiar Kamijou.

"Uhihihihi." He let out a strange laughter and _dragged_ Cao Cao to the smaller kitsune wearing a shrine maiden's outfit.

This is a strange chain of events for Cao Cao. He's a person that despises the supernatural and only wants to see humans reigning on top. Seeing a regular human get along with a kitsune is very strange to his eyes. He honestly wants to know more about this person, and not only because of his strange power.

He looks over to see where groups have broken off. Jeanne and Siegfried seem to be off by themselves. George and Nurarihyon are off with Yasaka. He's most likely gathering information and being helpful as always.

"Sooooo... did I ever tell ya guysh 'bout the time I punched an angel in the face?" Cao Cao is now very interested in the conversation. The younger kitsune seems to be taken in by his words. In his opinion, this guy is a pretty good story teller.

"When did this get into my hands?" He noticed a half-full container of alcohol in his hands. Well, it couldn't hurt to fit in and gain more information. He'll try to convince this person to come over to their side. After all, his band of heroes aren't wrong for what they're doing. _'Yes, we are the heroes of justice.'_

* * *

"Where…am I?" Kamijou was starting to come to. He has no memory of last night past a certain point. His head is pounding and just looking at the lights is enough to make him nauseas.

He tried to get up, but there were two people preventing him from doing that. On his right was a little blonde girl in a shrine maiden outfit. Her clearly supernatural tails were splayed out. On his left was a short-haired young man in a gakuran hanging off the side with his legs on top of Kamijou's chest. He's facing downward like somebody trampled on him in his sleep.

Barely getting up enough to not wake the girl on top of him he had a better view of the situation. Another man was passed out by a wall. His platinum-blonde and black hair was hanging down. Next to him was an older version of the blonde girl next to him.

_'What happened?!'_ It was like there was something lingering in the back of his mind trying to claw its way to the front. Wait…he did drink alcohol. He has some vague memories of somebody passing him some Sake, but he can't remember if he drank it or not.

He finally managed to climb out of the body pile. It was an art he honed due to people sneaking into his bed (bathtub). He was about to escape successfully, but he tripped on someone that he didn't even notice. It was a silver-haired man wearing a priest coat. Kamijou realized that there is truly a colorful assortment of people around him at the moment. He crashed to the ground on top of the short-haired man.

"Ow…" His voice sounds pained. Whether it be from the hangover, or something else is unknown.

"What happened? Things were supposed to be so easy. Just kidnap the damn fox and summon the Dragon's Gate. How did things come to this?" He woke up and started mumbling ominous plans.

Him waking up was the start of it all though. Nurarihyon was next to get up. "Shit. I got so drunk that I don't even remember what happened…" He saw the light and immediately vomited on the side. He then immediately shifted back to the form of a short old man.

Luckily, he didn't throw up on Yasaka. He doesn't want to die after all. "Get off me!" He looked up to see another human push off Kamijou who fell onto another person wearing glasses.

Said glasses shrieked at being woken up violently. His yell woke up everyone who was nursing a very bad headache. All except for one young blonde girl. Most likely the only one who didn't get drunk and knows what happened last night.

"What happened last night?" Kamijou asked what everyone wanted to know. He directed it to the smaller kitsune who was rubbing her eyes and stretching. She looked over everyone with a smile on her face. She was about to speak, but then she was interrupted by the sound of the TV turning on.

Siegfried grabbed the remote and turned to the local news with a deadpan. It was reporting on Kyoto.

"Yes, Takemi-san. There were multiple reports of shadows sneaking in and out of homes. Police would've attributed to sleep-paralysis; however, there were multiple items stolen from said homes." Yasaka immediately turned towards the old man with a gourd-shaped head.

"I didn't do anything. I was right here from the start till the end." That was his flimsy defense that even Kamijou knew wouldn't hold. An aura of power emanated from Yasaka, and everyone but her daughter had the urge to just leave right then and there.

Cao Cao would've taken this opportunity to take care of Yasaka now, but the Nurarihyon is here as well. He's strong enough to pose a threat, and with the combined forces of those two... It'll be too risky. He'll have all of Kyoto descend on their group before they finish their plans.

"Come on." He grabbed Kamijou by the shoulder. He looked at Cao Cao in surprise. "Do you really want to be around her when she explodes?" He paled and understood immediately.

Kamijou's life is rife with dangerous women. He ran out of there with Cao Cao and his group. Once they reached the outskirts, they all turned around to the spiky-haired boy.

"So, how would you like to join the Hero Faction?" Cao Cao said that with a grin. He skipped past all the steps and directly invited him.

The misfortunate boy only had one response to that. "Bwuh?"


	3. Lurking Shadows

**AN: College is hell. Now onto the reviews.**

**Thereisaperv: Thanks.**

**Qrow454: You might see some of what you want in this chapter. The rest? Who knows what could happen?**

**ChancePluto: Thanks.**

**FinzDragzer: **

**SilverCrow: Thanks.**

**Guest: Thanks.**

**Sagnik Deb: **

**Guest: Thanks.**

**Ylnadiir: I'll try my best.**

**legacy30: The more you write, the more I'm gonna snatch from you. Jk, enjoy the read.**

**botman69420: Thanks.**

* * *

Chapter 2: Lurking_Shadows_In_Shadows

"The flow of mana here is strange." Othinus made that statement after a cursory observation of the town she and Thor stopped in.

Thor is a magician, but he's more specialized for battles and destruction over the intricate methods of sensing and analyzing. Though Othinus may be a war god, she's a magic god first and foremost.

"What do you mean?" While Thor handles the observation of the locals, Othinus can handle the observation of the mana here. Thor spotted some actual people with wings, basically Valkyries.

The humans here have no problems seeing them, which means it must be a common sight. They most likely got shunted near one of the territories belonging to the side of the Norse Faction.

These two don't know that though. "No, it's not just the mana. It's the leyline itself. It feels…foreign." She hesitated over the last word, but that's the best selection for her senses.

The mana and the leylines feel very foreign. As a magic god who lost all her power and is now a fairy, she can no longer harness any magic. She most she can do is sense and analyze. It's because of that refined skill that she could come to this improbable conclusion.

"There is no place like this in the world. All of a sudden, now there is. The only way this could be possible is if we're no longer in the original world." She said that with a grave tone of voice.

Thor though… "What, so that's all? No wonder I couldn't use Almighty Thor. We were blown away to a different world completely." He's showing no sign of any seriousness. The graveness of the situation wasn't lost on him, but he believes he can fix this.

"No you don't get it. There's not supposed to be any parallel worlds...so what is this?"

"Could you be wrong then? It wouldn't be the first time you've made a mistake and caused others to pay for it."

"At least the human is in the same world." She ignored the barb and let loose an imperceptible sigh of relief. "Regaining your Almighty Thor should be key to getting us back."

They at least have a way to get back. That's enough for them to relax a little bit. They have no idea how the ordinary high schooler is doing in this foreign environment, or if he even found out about where they were all thrown to.

"Hmmm. The problem is finding out how to connect Almighty Thor to this world. You know how the spell works already, so I can save you an explanation similar to the ones you so love to give. Now that we have more info, we should give Kamijou-chan another call."

Othinus didn't say anything, so Thor took it as a sign of agreement. What he didn't know was that she was lost in her own thoughts.

The flow of the mana is foreign. It may also follow different rules.

There's a lot of possibilities in the magic of this new world. Her inner magic god desires to find out all the knowledge of this place, especially the Norse Magic. Even if she can't use it, she's just too curious about it.

There's also something else. An odd gleam in her single eye showed up. It was missed by Thor who went to accost some random normal guy for his cell. He started bothering him so much that the guy just threw the phone at Thor.

Othinus was knocked out of her thoughts by the sound of a phone dialing. It went on and on and on and on, and then it went straight to voicemail.

"Are you kidding me? Kamijou-chan, did I annoy you that much that you decided to turn your phone off?"

"Tch. He probably turned his phone off to conserve electricity." Only Othinus could understand the heart of that poor high schooler. He easily picked out the reason for the call to go straight to voicemail.

"Ah, sorry about that. Here you go." Thor handed the guy back his phone with a smile on his face. The random man just took it back with a scowl and walked off. They both noticed that he didn't have any abnormal reaction to Othinus talking.

"So, what do we do now?" Thor doesn't seem to be troubled at all. He's closing his eyes in thought. The only thing he's doing is fantasizing another battle against Kamijou Touma.

"There are three things we can do." Othinus started and interrupted Thor's imaginations. "First, we can gather information and funnel it to the human all while you try to get back your spell." Thor waved his hand.

"Too tedious. Next."

"Second, we can explore this new world and go and pick up the human at a later date. This will be a bit annoying because we would have to track where he would be in the future." This second plan will allow them to move around a lot more though.

"Sounds pretty fun. I like the risk of battles in this plan." The battle-maniac Thor will definitely pick a lot of fights against anyone who looks strong if they go and explore the new world.

"Third, we can rush over to where the human is and pick him up right now." They know where he is. Thor tracked him from the phone call and found him in Kyoto for some strange reason. He can only assume that he was thrown off a smaller distance than he and Othinus were.

To Thor, it's obvious which plan Othinus wants to pick though. She definitely wants to meet up with her dear understander as soon as possible.

For Thor, he just want to finish up one last round against him. The problem is that he his Almighty Thor spell isn't working right at the moment, so he can't exactly challenge him in his current state. That's no good. He won't be able to cross the large wall of power in his way like that.

Kamijou Touma is the only one who can help him cross the boundary where he's at right now.

"To be honest, I want to go along with the second plan." That wasn't Thor who said that. He whipped his head over to his shoulder in surprise. That was a completely unexpected choice to him.

"Why? I mean, it's perfect for me, but I know what you really want to do." The tiny magic god purses her lips.

"The only one who knows what I want at any time is my understander, not you. This is just the best choice. That's all." There's another reason that Thor can't extract from her.

He's just not close enough to glean any information from her, nor can he read her that well. He doesn't care though.

"Fine. This works out for me perfectly." He grinned in anticipation. _'Just wait for me Kamijou-chan. We'll settle this sooner or later once and for all!'_

"Let's go explore the new world." Don't get these two wrong. They're not working together out of a sense of camaraderie. Such a thing was long destroyed in the past. They just have similar goals that forces them to put aside their differences.

Kamijou Touma isn't here to mend the fractures in between them, so who knows what'll happen.

* * *

An actual meal…" Speaking of pointy-haired high school boys, this one is in awe of a proper meal in front of his eyes. He's sitting in a restaurant's circular booth with other people around him. He's still in Kyoto, but Cao Cao decided to speak with him over a meal while placing himself directly beside him.

He knows how to leverage his charisma and the best ways to get on people's good sides, but…

_'__This is working way better than expected. I would even say that this is fortunate.' _He believes he can recruit this interesting human to his cause. Maybe teach him some magic and indoctrinate him with his just cause.

In his eyes, he believed he stumbled across a person with an unknown sacred gear. Maybe something that could disrupt someone's control over any source of power.

A smile of triumph appeared on his face from the divine happiness emanating from Kamijou.

"Hey, hey! What's your name?" Surprisingly, it wasn't the leader who spoke up. It was the cheerful Jeanne who's curiosity got the better of her. Cao Cao's group would truly be a gloomy and serious place without her bombastic personality around.

Naturally, Kamijou wasn't prepared for someone like this getting up and close with his personal space. He regretfully put down his bowl of food to answer her.

"Kamijou Touma." He resumed eating.

"Hmmmm…" She's thinking extremely hard. What she's trying to do is to come up with a nickname. That's how she interacts with everyone; however, Kamijou's name is a bit difficult to shorten.

"Touma-chan then!" She nodded to herself with an enthusiastic energy. Cao Cao let the antics continue to let the hungry student feel at ease. He is using this time to replenish his reserves with pure calories.

A nice smoothie is good enough for him.

"Um, could you tell me how you did what you did last night?" Georg, the magician possessing Dimension Lost, decided to questing the abnormal person in his eyes about a conundrum that stumped him.

"Last night?" Kamijou's face took a confused turn, but he was misunderstood.

"Ah, don't worry. No one can hear us. I erected a perfect barrier that'll prevent any noise from leaking, any supernaturals sensing our presence, keeping the temperature just right, and—" "You're rambling again." The stoic Siegfried interrupted the expert magician who went on a tangent.

"Ah! My apologies. I just really desire the secret behind the ability that you showed everyone last night. It was quite…unsettling and very interesting to say the least."

Kamijou Touma crossed his arms and stopped eating. He seemed to be deliberating about something very hard in his head. The moment he came to a decision, he opened his eyes with a tremendous will and his gaze fell upon the magician who desired the secrets behind his ability.

He then spoke with a seriousness that rivals any moment when he gets into an incident.

"I don't remember anything about what happened last night!" He sounded so proud of that.

Siegfried couldn't take it. He was annoyed that his boss/friend decided to set back the raid, annoyed that he decided to waste everyone's time to recruit this person, annoyed the Georg went on another one of his magical spiels again, and annoyed that this person decided to play everyone like a fool because of his lack of memory in his drunken haze.

"Are you kidding me?!" Even Cao Cao was shocked by that outburst. They can't blame him.

Siegfried was shocked himself. Kamijou looked a bit scared at his yell. He looked extremely angry, but more than that it was a fierce type of anger. He was worried that he was going to get attacked by this guy.

"Uh, I'm sorry that I don't remember. I can give you the rest of my food if it'll make you feel better." The pointy-haired boy smiled. It should be considered that this type of person who can barely afford anything giving away food, is a saintly act for him.

Not even Index can swipe a meal from him when he's starving.

Except if she's starving as well.

Naturally, his words served to stoke Siegfried's flames of anger. He was about to open his mouth, but then he was interrupted by an excited squeal.

"Oh my gosh!" He didn't like the sound of Jeanne's joy. She cupped her cheeks with both hands. "You two are totally perfect for each other! You can be his straight man, Sieg-kun." She then turned towards Kamijou, ignoring Siegfried's squawk and tightly set her hands on his shoulder.

The grip was secure enough to make him sweat. He definitely couldn't run away from this.

"You have to join us." Those words offered no room for disagreement. She completely ignored any good reasons to convince him to join simply because she found a way to break the stoic façade of Siegfried.

It never breaks unless he's in a battle, but now there's something else. Cao Cao sighed and decided to break his silence and intervene here.

"That's enough Jeanne." She straightened and saluted out of instinct before she realized what she was doing.

"So, I got that you guys are a part of a group. What kind of group is it that you want me to join so badly?" This is the perfect segue to begin talking about his goal. The charismatic force behind his self-assured smirk was diluted by the presence of a smoothie in his hands.

Nonetheless, it did grab Kamijou's attention. "Well, since you asked, I'll inform you of our goal." He finally set down the drink and the smirk was replaced with a frown.

"We, the Hero Faction, will rid the world of all evil beings to protect humanity. Devils, Fallen Angels, Dragons…these monsters prey upon the potential and lives of humanity and treat us like cattle. We'll slay even the gods if we have to."

Kamijou knew. His dream was backed up by pure resolve and nothing else. _'Still though, devils? What are those?' _Things have been weird ever since he was thrown through a building.

He noticed earlier that he was no longer in Academy City and even tried to call Index while walking with these other people. He got nothing.

Things were starting to paint a very miserable picture indeed. He just needs to ask one more thing.

"I'm sorry, but I'm a bit confused. You say you want to rid the world of them, but have they even done anything bad?" Cao Cao and the others adopted a look of confusion.

"Don't tell me… Do you not even know the basics about the supernatural? I see I wrongly assumed. I'll give you a general explanation."

Cao Cao told Kamijou about the supernatural beings in the world, the magicians, and about the sacred gears. Everything started to fit into place.

He was thrown through a building in Kyoto, none of his calls to Index were getting through, all this supernatural stuff that's completely foreign to him even when he's knee deep into it. He doesn't want to believe it, but he's in another world.

He's having a hard time wrapping his head around it. The others around him gave him some breathing room because they thought he was confused about a hidden world, but that wasn't it.

_'__Thor and Othinus are here too. That's how the call got through.' _It's not a complete lost cause. He can return home, he just knows it.

He needs to find those two, but he doesn't know where they wound up. They're halfway across the world and he doesn't know where to start looking. He rested his chin on his hand in deep thought.

"Do you have any questions?" Cao Cao felt that he gave the Kamijou a sufficient amount of time to catch his bearings.

"By rid the world of, you mean kill right?" He nodded, getting an inkling of where this was going. "Is that really necessary? Designating a group of people as evil and going around killing them?"

Cao Cao shook his head. "You don't know the supernatural. It's heartless and cruel towards the weak and ignorant. They keep the weak humans ignorant of even the fact that they exist and prey on them. _That is evil and something we cannot allow._

"I'm sure that not all of them are evil, so why can't humans just befriend them? Fear doesn't excuse murder. Nothing does." He slowly and strongly made his point.

"Don't spout off naïve ideals like you understand the plights of the weak. You know nothing of Evil Pieces nor do you understand how coercive fallen angels can be. You know not the depths of heaven and earth." That was the rebuttal that he had prepared for any people like him.

Kamijou Touma isn't someone who would fold on something as flimsy as that though. "You're right. I don't know anything about this supernatural world. That doesn't mean that I can't realize when something goes too far!" He slammed his hand on the table.

How could he accept the killing of others? Easy, he won't. There's no way Kamijou would ever accept killing anyone so thoughtlessly.

There's about to be a breakdown in communication.

"Your platitudes are empty. You haven't experienced anything, so I'll let you stew for a bit. Anyone with a sacred gear is bound to run into the supernatural. I'll let you come to your own conclusions." He ripped off a piece of paper and started scribbling on it.

"Here, my number. If you change your mind, then you can call anytime." He smirked and stood up. Everyone in his group followed after him, but Siegfried shot him a glare before leaving.

Meanwhile, Kamijou's been left in thought. He was thrown into another world and his goal is to return, but does that mean he can ignore this? _'Othinus and Thor can wait. I have a bad feeling about this.'_

"Excuse me." A voice interrupted him from his thoughts. He looked up to see a busty waitress. Her smile was so serene that even felt like getting lost in it.

"Your friends have left, so here's the bill." He froze when the bill was placed on the table. He then wilted when he saw the cost and wilted even further when he remembered his lack of money.

He was wrong. This waitress wasn't like a serene river. She was the yellow river that should never be crossed over.

He didn't have a choice at this point. He had no money and he couldn't just call Cao Cao and say 'Hey, can you come back and pay for this?' So, he ran. He committed the cardinal sin of dining and dashing.

Right before stepping to freedom, he was pulled back in by strong arms. "Oh? Where do you think you're going?" Once again, he was roped into forced labor, which he's sure should be illegal.

"Just my rotten luck." He sighed and prepared himself to go through another round. He refuses to get drunk this time.

* * *

"Hey boss! What's got you so agitated? Don't be so glum chum. You should be more energetic, like me!" Cao Cao's frown didn't change. He's still thinking about the words Kamijou said to him.

"If anyone were to be as chipper as you, that would be bad." Georg inputted his opinion. Naturally, Jeanne rounded on him with bubbly anger.

"And what do you mean by that, buster?!" He ignored their little antics. His mind was somewhere else.

_'__He doesn't understand. He'll come around, just like I have. Humanity needs to rise above all of the supernatural to prove we aren't pushovers.' _In the end, the two could not reach an understanding.

Kamijou could not realize the depths behind Cao Cao's resolve, and Cao Cao could not realize how much Kamijou has actually experienced. Both of them are far too committed to their actions to ever accept the other side without a fight.

"Are you ready, Cao Cao?" His trusted comrade Siegfried seems raring to go. He gave a single nod, and that began the execution of the plan.

For the sake of their goal, he will let nothing stop him.

* * *

Eventually, evening rolled around and Kamijou was set free from the chains of a nine-to-five job.

They terrify him.

First, he needs to find a place to sleep. He managed to crash at someone's place while he was drunk, but then he had to run out.

While he was hopelessly walking, he heard someone slurring behind him. He couldn't quite make out what the other man was saying so he hesitantly walked closer. The man's eyes were unfocused and he was moving like a drunkard.

"Boobs…" That's all Kamijou heard.

"Excuse me?" He thought he heard wrong.

"Boobs!" He ran towards Kamijou who was already worn out from today. He was so surprised that he accidentally pushed him into a pole that he didn't know was initially there.

The sound of the man's head smacking against it made a loud, dull noise that rang through his ears. The man instantly went unconscious.

"Boobs~" Even sleep-talking that was still on his mind. Kamijou was extremely confused.

"Wait, I just knocked him into a pole. Oh no, I knocked him into a pole! Hey man, are you okay?!" He ran over to him and shook him a bunch of times just to get a response. He was panicking so badly that he didn't think to even check his breathing.

"B-boobs?" He had a derpy smile on his face when his eyes opened halfway. Those were the only words on his mind, unconscious or not.

"Are you a Pokémon?!" He keeps repeating that same word,so Kamijou couldn't help but idiotically blurt that out. He did the only thing he could do.

He ran from the scene of the crime. "Would that be self-defense or assault…or is that battery? I don't know!" He eventually found his way into a seedy part of Kyoto.

A place like this looks like where a lot of goons would hang out. These goons weren't in the right state of mind though.

When they saw fresh meat enter their peripheral vision, each and every one of them honed in on the high school boy like a delectable steak served right out the oven. To them, the seasoning was just right. Kamijou felt like a deer surrounded by a pack of hyenas.

Unknown to everyone there, someone was hovering above this area. He saw Kamijou knock an obviously addled person out, and he wanted to get to the bottom of all these molesters. The man with 12 feathery black wings saw a tragedy in the making though, yet he decided to stay back and watch.

"Oh, this is gonna be great." He grinned and watched the fireworks pop off.

"Boobs!" All of the men there besides the fallen angel in the sky and Kamijou on the ground yelled that in unison. The sole high school boy instantly spun on his heel and ran away.

Kamijou has a belief for fights. If it's one, he can win. If it's two, there's a possibility of victory. If it's three, run away. He now has to amend that belief.

If it's a countless number of men chasing after your male chest, run away screaming like a headless chicken.

"This may not be Academy City, but I can still escape these guys." Kamijou's grinning at the thought of not being violated and utterly molested by middle-aged men. To be fair, anyone would start grinning in relief from any hopes of escaping that type of horde.

"Oof!" Though, it was about time for the hope to be shattered by running into someone.

"Sorry!" The person he bumped into gave a hand to help him up. He graciously took the hand and looked up to the receiver. It was a silver-haired mature lady wearing a red suit.

"Are you a dorm manager?" He blurted that out. He couldn't help it though. In his eyes, she exuded that onee-san aura that he so idealized. She tilted her head in confusion.

"No, wait." He shook his head. "You gotta get out of here. There's a bunch of rampaging perverts running here!" A single word in that sentence set off every alarm in her mind.

There was a certain pervert that she needed to supervise, lest something unethical happens. "Thanks for the reminder. I'll see you later!" And she ran off.

"'Uh, I'll see you later?' Why did she say that?" He would continue on that train of thought had he not been on the lookout for middle-aged men. It was his ears that heard them first, then his feet.

The chant of 'boobs' and the stomping tremor of a bunch of feet combining into something that could even be felt where he was. He ran as far as possible. He had confidence in his stamina, so he abused it to keep his chastity safe.

However… "How are they still chasing me?! They look out of shape!" Yes. Through the power of a lust-induced haze, they will chase after any source of boobs, be it a man's or a woman's pair.

Their stamina might as well be endless in this state. Two people grabbed his ankles, which gave the horde time to catch up.

"No, no, no, no!" He punctuated each 'no' with a kick to their faces. Normally, he wouldn't be harming innocent people, but this is an emergency situation. Once he got free, he continued to run at full force.

Kamijou had no choice but to rely on help. That number he got from Cao Cao.

He believes it's time to put it to good use.

He surprisingly picked up on the first ring. "Ah, did you decide to join our cause?"

"I'm being chased by molesters." The serious intonation of those words gave Cao Cao a minor, but grave pause.

"Excuse me, but repeat that right now." Kamijou is sweating from the malicious tone in that voice. He's definitely annoyed. If he could see a person through the phone, then he would see a mad twitch on Cao Cao's eyebrow.

"…" Kamijou can hear the unstated threat. He chuckles nervously before responding. "Well…I'm being chased by a raving horde of middle-aged men that want to grope me."

"So? What's the problem? Just beat them all up. You should be strong enough to." There was an awkward silence over the phone. The only noise filling the void of voices was the sound of heavy running and chanting men.

Cao Cao actually had a huge misunderstanding about Kamijou's power. He's only a normal high school student, but the short-haired leader of the Hero Faction looked at what he did to Dimension Lost and used that as a measurement for his power.

That was an incorrect thing to do. The misunderstanding was further increased from this.

"I get it. You're one of those power types that don't know how to do subtle things like erase memories or make a barrier to separate the supernatural from the normal side of things." Cao Cao pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Can't you at least control your power and knock them all out, or can you not even do that?" Kamijou realized he wasn't going to get any help from this guy. He pulled the phone from his ear.

"I'll give you some help if—" He hung up on him.

"Yeah right." Kamijou deadpanned continued running. There had to be a limit to these guys. If not, well then, he's prepared to run all night long if he has to. It's not the first time he had to pull an all-nighter for something. He's more than used to that by this point.

* * *

Cao Cao is not amused. He expected the person he took interest in to call back. He has a great eye for talent because he is the reincarnation of a powerful Chinese hero with the same name, so when Kamijou called, he had a smile of satisfaction and expected pride.

He was so self-assured that he was gaining a hopeful recruit, that he didn't even expect him to call for a different reason.

How was he supposed to react when he was basically told that he was close to getting molested by a horde of men. Offer help? Laugh? Get mad? None of those were close to expressing the sheer amount of thoughts running through his head like a stampede of horses.

So he told the teen to repeat himself in case he was mistaken.

Unfortunately, he wasn't. He was truly being chased by a stampede of normal people and not doing a single thing about it. That's when he thought he could've been a power type like Heracles.

He even saw a chance to truly recruit Kamijou right then and there and he was hung up on. _'He…he dares to hang up on me?' _He right eye was madly twitching. He felt that this was going to become a habit if he continued dealing with that spiky-haired boy.

"Everyone. We're going to capture Yasaka right now. Screw the planning and everything, let's just use brute force. She's at this meeting place right now." He doesn't care if he's seen right now. He's going to just capture her and call out Great Red as soon as possible.

Yeah…he's going to speed this up. Then they can all leave this annoying city.

"But boss…" Whatever Georg wanted to say was interrupted by a mere stare from Cao Cao. The magician could see the budding irritation inside, so he just sighed and activated Dimension Lost around the spot.

Just precautions to hide the supernatural.

Siegfried merely nodded and then a savage grin appeared on his face.

"Balance Break!" Two human arms and four silvery dragon arms reached in his coat for his swords.

Five out of the six arms were filled with the legendary blades, Gram, Nothung, Balmung, Tyrfing, and Dáinsleif. These five blades are demonic swords carrying immense powers from the very legend itself.

The very last arm is merely using a light sword, which Heracles didn't hesitate to point out.

"Oi, oi, oi, you're still using a cheap bargain bin light sword?" His mocking grin conveyed all that was unsaid.

"Don't worry. These blades are all I need. I'll pick up another legendary sword if it's necessary, but for now…" He rose his arms high up and flexed his arms. The aura of the blades reached their peak as shown by the wind being teared around them.

"Let's see what the Youkai Faction has to offer." He swung those with the force of a mountain combined with all of the power coming from it. The building didn't stand a chance.

"You know, Cao Cao? I actually like the plan of not having a plan and rushing in!" Siegfried didn't check for survivors other than Yasaka. If there were any, that only means they are worthy for his blades to face them.

"Of course, he's the one that's happy about the plan being done with, geez. Well, boss's orders." Georg sighed and focused his sacred gear on a certain spot.

The entire Hero Faction headed out to capture Yasaka.

* * *

"Haa, Haa. It seems they finally stopped." Kamijou stopped for a moment to catch his breath. He rubbed the sweat dripping down his face with the back of his hand. His legs are burning from what he put them through.

His pupils were dilated from the extreme running he had to do. For some reason, they were all extra motivated when they saw that they couldn't catch up to them.

Either Kamijou's eyes were playing tricks on him, or they were actually surrounded by a pinkish aura. He barely managed to escape from their increased speed. He really exhausted himself tonight…and he still doesn't have a place to stay.

These past two days have been very unlucky for him. "When I return, I'm not going to Kyoto no matter what." He doesn't know if there are any Youkai back in his original world, but he doesn't want to chance it.

A bitter smile appeared on his face. It was one devoid of all hope.

"Who am I kidding? There's no way I won't run into them. Enough of that though. What's with all the magical stuff in this place?" The fact that he managed to get sent to another world in the first place, the absurd amounts of Youkai, the crowd who chased him that must've been supernatural or he'll eat his shoes.

Everything's all confusing for him. "It'd be so much easier if Index or Othinus were here. I'd even take Thor or Stiyl at this point." He let out another heavy sigh. This one had a weight to it.

"What am I going to do…?" He actually feels lost in this world where no one knows him at all. It's so similar to his world, just minus a few things. It's comparable to one of the infinite worlds that Othinus showed him back when she had the full power of a magic god.

He started moving his feet and letting it guide his body. He's not being driven by any sort of instinct to move anywhere. It's just mindless walking to any destination without any goals or aspirations to do anything.

In short, he's bored. "I wonder if anyone other than Index knows what happened? Maybe I can count on them to help me get back… no, that's no good. I will do this myself. I'll find my way back home, but I don't know where to start." His eyes brightened.

"That's it! I can just look for anything that looks abnormal." He grinned with stars in his eyes like managed to find a breakthrough to his hopeless situation. He believes he remembers where the Youkai restaurant is from the other day.

He'll just have run across it somehow. He turned his feet around and started walking in the opposite direction.

"Let's see…I think I'm supposed to turn right here? Yeah, that sounds about right." Kamijou went in the absolute wrong direction.

He thought he could trust his memory, but it was ironically the one thing that failed him. He only noticed he was going in the wrong direction when the volume of trees started increasing.

It almost looked like he was wandering to local Kyoto shrine somewhere. "Seriously?" He rubbed the back of his head in annoyance at himself.

"I'll just rest here." He decisively said that. He's been running himself ragged all day and yesterday was also a mess. He could use some peaceful downtime. He sat down against the wall of a shrine.

His breath became more even. He was about ready to slip into dreamland, but he caught himself.

"Let's think about my situation here for a sec. I fought Thor, got thrown into this weird world, encountered some odd stuff, and now I'm here. Where are those two anyways?" He tilted his head in a thinking position. It's strange how he hasn't run into them yet.

From his point of view, they should've been blown near him as well. The only thing he can guess is that they must've ended up somewhere else. He had an inkling that he would be unlucky enough for them to be halfway across the world, but he didn't want to believe it.

He can only hope that the next time they call him, they can arrange a meet up.

* * *

"Alright that's enough resting for now." He stands up to see a lot of strange creatures in front of him. _'Youkai.' _There's been a bunch of them in Kyoto already, so it's most likely more Youkai. They seem to be Tengu.

The two at the very back move to their respective sides to reveal a small blonde shrine maiden with fox tails protruding from her. Kamijou tries to recall where he's seen her before.

_'__Oh, right before I ran out of that place. If I recall correctly she was there, but why is she angry?'_The look this small kitsune is giving to Kamijou isn't one a normal person would give to a familiar person.

In her eyes, he's her most hated enemy.

"Give mother back." _'Huh?' _He didn't know how to react to that. He doesn't recall stealing her mother or running off with her. As a matter of fact, he was busy trying to keep his chastity and what's left of his dignity intact.

"Was your mother the older blonde? Sorry, I don't remember her name." Kamijou tried to tone down the heated kitsune, but his words only served to make her even more furious.

"Don't play dumb! You were with the guys who took my mother. Give her back!" The people Kamijou were around can be narrowed down if you ignore the horde of lusty men.

_'__Cao Cao and the others?'_He adopted a look of shock and realization while the rest of the Tengu took a fighting stance to capture the human before them.

"Wait, wait, wait! You're misunderstanding something here!" Fortunately, those words seemed to have given them some pause and even dulled the anger in Kunou's eyes.

"Sure I was with them, we talked, and they even treated me to a meal. They also tried to recruit me and Cao Cao gave me his number and…I'm not making this easy for me, am I?" He nervously rubbed the back of his head and chuckled to defuse the rising frustration in the air.

Kamijou's foot-in-mouth syndrome continues to go strong in this world.

Because of his careless words, Kunou's rage came back even stronger. "Capture him!"

Kamijou ran into the forested area, not knowing that the Youkai know this place extremely well. He tried to navigate around the trees, but an instinct told him to duck.

A wooden staff swung through the air where his head was a moment ago. That attack, if connected, would've likely done a number on him. _'These guys are serious! I gotta get out of here.'_

He doesn't want to make the situation even worse for him, so he decides to not fight back. With his experience through a multitude of battles, his dodging skill has been honed to an extreme amount.

Not a single attack landed on him even through the blatant blue fire that threatened to set him alight.

He was looking hopeful when he broke through the shrubbery. Right when he entered the main part of Kyoto, his avenue of escape was cut off by more Youkai. He tried to turn around only to see even more. He slid to a halt and grabbed the corner of a pole to hook himself to an alleyway. Even that last pathway was cut off by the same dressed Youkai from before.

He can't get away anymore. The numbers are too massive for him to even consider fighting against, and there's no way to get out of this.

"Now…you will return my mother." She only seems calm on the outside. On the inside though, it's a bubbling molten fury of anguish and anger. _'She really loves her mother, huh.' _Being blamed for the crimes of another is purely bad luck.

Kamijou put his hands up in surrender. "I'm telling you that I don't know where she is. If it makes you feel better, then you can do whatever you like to me."

* * *

He then found himself immediately handcuffed through magical means. He bitterly smiled at these turn of events.

He somewhat blames himself for this. Maybe if he never ran in with Cao Cao, or maybe if he never did whatever he did while he was drunk, this never would've happened. He has no idea what could've happened yet still blames himself.

_'__I want to resolve this twisted problem.' _

It's nighttime already. Kamijou never noticed how late it got while he was running everywhere. Well at least he can look on the bright side and realize that he's not going to be sleeping outside.

Just in a makeshift jailcell. "Such misfortune. What the hell is Cao Cao doing?" Kamijou is directing the majority of his complaints towards him.

He has been relaxing in this cell for quite a while now. He was waiting for the perfect opportunity to break these magical cuffs and get out of there. Unfortunately, he's being watched by two guards.

_'__Shouldn't they already be interrogating me already?'_He just wants something concrete to happen. He'll hope for anything to happen at this rate.

He doesn't know what time it is right now, but the hunger pangs on his stomach tells him that it's quite late. Late enough for the moon and stars to be perfectly visible.

Just when he was about to call it quits, someone else entered the door leading to his cell.

It was Kunou.

"Oh, it's the chibi-kitsune." Naturally, that kitsune got angry at this remark.

"Who are you calling a chibi?!" Her teeth was bared. She quickly regained herself, remembering why she came here in the first place.

"What are the goals of your group?" Kamijou let out a long, agonizing sigh at this. He somewhat understands why he gets into situations like these, but he hopes that they would just stop happening altogether.

"I already said that I'm not a part of their group. Cao Cao just tried to recruit me is all. I refused and now we're here."

"You think I'll believe that? You two acted pretty friendly when you crashed at my mother's shrine the other day."

He was drunk on that day. He somehow got Cao Cao drunk as well, but he doesn't remember much of what happened then. A helpless expression must've shown on his face because Kunou seemed surprised.

"Don't tell me you don't even remember what happened? Don't mess with me!" That surprise quickly transformed back into righteous rage.

"I really don't though! Damnit, that's the last time I'll ever drink any alcohol." He muttered that last part in an annoyed tone.

"You…!" His stomach audibly growled. He was feeling hunger pangs before, but he didn't think it would've gotten this bad. He looked a little bashful when he looked up at the kitsune and the two guards.

"Do you think I can get some food?" Kunou's vitriol translated into a look of sharp disdain. She swiftly turned on her heel and slammed the door behind her. The two guards shook their heads at Kamijou's insensitive words.

"Really?" Even Kamijou knew he screwed up when the guard on the left asked that.

"Ugh, sorry. I can't help my own hunger though." He tried to rub the back of his head, but the cuffs got in the way. He then adopted a grim look.

"Those guys really took her mother. What are they going to do with her?" The guard on the right expelled air in irritation.

"Who knows? Our leader's life is at risk, and the one who's temporarily taking up the mantle is just a child. Instead of being out there looking for her, we're stuck looking after you, so you won't escape."

"Not like I can escape in the first place with these cuffs on and the metal cell blocking me." The three waited in silence for a bit.

Eventually, it was broken by one of the guards. "You know, lady Kunou and lady Yasaka are thick as thieves. The bond those two share aren't things you can go out and find in the world easily. That's why it would be best for you to share any information you know."

"I'll tell you the same thing I told her, I don't know anything about this." He's exasperated with how many times he's had to repeat himself. The other guard merely nods stoically.

"We know. She won't accept that though. We'll get you some food, so just sit tight there." They both momentarily left and got Kamijou some much needed food.

It was just bread and water, but he wasn't complaining. He dove into it with his cuffed hands like a starving man. After drinking through the water and biting through most of the bread, he belatedly realized that the guards left.

"Hm?" He took one more bite and felt something metallic roll around in his mouth. He reached in and a key fell from his lips onto the cold, hard ground.

His eyes widened. "They're giving me a chance to get out of here? Still they should've removed the cuffs, though I can do that myself."

He quickly got the picture and bent his pinky to reach towards the edge of the cuffs. The touch disintegrated the cuffs and he rolled his wrists around.

He picked up the key and slipped his arm in between the gaps of the cell. When he heard a click, he smiled and finally felt that things were looking up for him.

He opened the door and exhaled in relief that it wasn't locked. "Alright, let's get out of here."

He gently closed the door and began sneaking his way out of the area. By the time he made it outside, it was already too late for the rest of the guards against him to raise the alarm.

"Oh, shit!" He scrambled because the alarm was eventually pulled. He was pretty lucky that no one noticed him earlier. He definitely would've been captured if he stayed just a little bit longer in there.

Or rather than luck, it could have been the two somewhat friendly guards that covered for him as much as possible. If they get demoted, Kamijou might feel a little bad.

"I'll pay you guys back!" There's no one who knows the pain of being poor like Kamijou does. It would be impossible for him to not feel grief on how they might suffer.

"Now, how do I get out of here? He started walking through the trees without a care in the world. He cleared enough distance from the place he was locked up at, which was most likely the shrine. He didn't pay enough attention to it.

"You finally escaped." A young man came out from behind the trees as he announced his presence to Kamijou. The outfit he wore was familiar.

"You're with Cao Cao's group." The man nodded without giving away any emotion. His mouth seemed to be stuck in a neutral position and shades covered his eyes.

"Yes, I am Connla of the Hero Faction. The boss told me to pick you up." He extended his hand out to Kamijou. There was a small amount of emotion appearing then. A slight upturn to his lips from hopes of receiving a new member and pleasing their leader.

"There you are!" Kunou somehow managed to track Kamijou down. Since there was no aura to sense from him, she had to sniff him out.

Both humans turned when they heard her exclamation. "Gah!" Kamijou reacted appropriately for someone in his position and panicked a little bit. He keeps finding himself having to run from someone or some people in Kyoto.

"That uniform…you're also a part of the group who took my mother!" Her tails stood up in anger. Kamijou focused on one thing though.

"'Also?!' Hold on a second!" _'Why is she so adamant that I'm with them? Was I really acting that friendly with Cao Cao while I was drunk? Past drunk Kamijou, what did you do to get me in this much trouble?!'_

"…Well, I didn't expect this. A two-for-one special. Boss didn't say anything about you, but I think he would appreciate my extra credit. Let's capture her, Kamijou Touma." He was already including Kamijou alongside himself.

He didn't even think he would refuse, after all, he was personally asked by the boss himself.

"Hold on. Just why do you two think I would ever be a part of a group like that? You're causing pain for a meaningless reason." The golden-haired kitsune looked over to him with no small amount of surprise.

"What?" Connla was irritated by this rejection. A small amount of anger began festering on the inside. _'Just who does this guy think he is? Rejecting an offer from the boss himself…'_

"Didn't you hear me? I said I'm not going to join you guys! Separating a family, causing grief…who knows what kind of things you guys are planning. I refuse to be a part of that."

Everything that Connla stood for was called into question and utterly rejected. There's no way he could maintain his composure from that.

"It's for the greater good!" Shadow began swirling around him. If he can't take Kamijou peacefully, he might as well take him by force and make him see the error of his ways.

"'Greater good?' Don't make me laugh! That's nothing but an excuse for those who gave up partway and patted themselves on the back for making a hard choice. You think that's heroic?! I'll tell you what I think of that. That's cowardly!" He clenched his right fist.

Connla grit his teeth. "Cao Cao said you were a prospective recruit, but I don't see it. How can he see anything of worth in trash like you who don't realize the greatness in our ideals! Just who hell do you think you are!" The swirling shadows rushed towards both Kamijou and Kunou.

All he did was raise his hand, and the large buildup of shadows dispersed into nothing. Connla temporarily lost control over his sacred gear, but he got it back instantly.

He took a step back in shock. Suddenly, the person in front of him looked a whole lot scarier than before, almost like a fierce beast.

"Who am I? I'm just a regular high school student that recently got lost. People like me are dime a dozen. If a normal person like me is calling out your ideals, then you should seriously get them checked out."

"Normal person my ass." The shadow user choked that out and drowned out the surprise with anger.

"Hey, you're really not with them, right? I can trust you…right?" By Kamijou's side, the kitsune whispered to him. Kamijou just nodded while keeping his eyes on the shadows that began to swirl again.

"I see." She sighed in relief and then looked a little down. "I owe you an apology."

"Just save it for later." Kamijou smiled and patted her on the head. To her, it didn't feel undesirable.

"Kamijou Touma!" Connla yelled and gathered all the shadows he could with his power and smashed it right into him.

To him, Kamijou's ability is just something strange. It should be simple to overcome if he just uses more power. Unluckily for him, that's not how it works. Kamijou merely placed his palm right in front of the darkness flooding towards him.

He was revealed to be standing in the same spot without any damage done to him. "Just stop this already. Can't you see that what you're doing is not helping anybody? If you call yourself a hero, then you must want to help people, right?

"Yes…that's right. I want to help people. I want to help Cao Cao. He said I could be a hero, so I'll be a hero for him!"

Instead of pushing outwards, the shadows were being pulled inward. The darkness of the night started to recede and the world around them looked a lot brighter. All of the darkness and shadows were pulled right towards the center that was Connla.

"I'll show you the power of a proud member of the hero faction. Balance Break!" His shout was powered by pure resolve.

The darkness started with his arms and legs, before creeping from his limbs to his torso. The transformation fully finished with his entire body being covered in shadows. There are dark green lines flowing through his shadowy body.

"What…is that?" Kamijou feels a bit unnerved by this obviously inhuman shape in front of him.

"This Night Reflection Death Cross was meant for the Red Dragon Emperor, but I'll use it for anyone who dares to insult _his_ ideals." He placed his hands on his face, took his shades, and discarded them.

He rose his arm to swat away an azure ball of fire. "Flames? You're going to have to bring a lot more heat than that if you want to stand a chance against me.

"I'll support you." Kamijou shook his head. He doesn't want anyone getting involved in fights he triggered himself.

"Just leave this guy to me. You can go call for backup."

"But…" The hesitation on her face was visible for all to see.

"Come on, have some faith. Like hell I'll lose to this guy." That self-assured grin gave her all the confidence to quickly dash away for some help.

"I won't let you escape!" A large dark ball of malice began forming in Connla's hands. He fired it at the kitsune's back as she was leaving. Kamijou was already there to block it.

"And I won't let you touch her!" Imagine Breaker negated it like any other supernatural force.

Connla stopped all movement besides the faint shivering. It's like he's trying to hold back from erupting.

"Just what…" His whole body of shadows started rumbling. "What the hell is wrong with you?!" He exploded.

He could no longer hold himself back due to his past experiences. He absolutely could not understand the anomalous person in front of him.

"You're human, right? You should know better than anyone what it's like to be exploited for just being at the bottom of the food chain!" Connla struggled to relay his thoughts coherently.

"Just what the hell is wrong with _you_?" Kamijou responded with confusion. They can't see eye-to-eye with their all too different life experiences at the moment.

"I'm a sacred gear user. We're all sacred gear users. That means all we do is get exploited by those around us! Devils force us into peerages, Fallen Angels coerce us to join them and kill us if we don't, and all other supernatural races look down on us! Yet…you decide to protect one of them?" He spat out disdain.

This shadow user's experience hasn't been a good one. Being shunned and rejected by even his fellow man for being different, he knows what it's like to crawl in the ground like a worm. His boss, Cao Cao, proved that his life had meaning.

"You understand, right? How an ability you never asked for caused nothing but troubles and misfortune around you? You must've thought that without your ability, you could've lived a peaceful life. I thought the same until I met someone who showed that this power of mine had real worth! Can't you see your rampant idiocy is only going to harm humans?!" Connla tried to reach Kamijou with his words to force his ideals on him and...

"So what?" That was his only response.

"What? What do you mean 'so what?'"

"All I heard you do was complain about circumstances that you never asked for, which I can understand, but so what?! You were shunned and rejected for your abilities, but so what?! Did that ever give you the right to put misery on others just because you lived a somewhat miserable life?! You think I'll ever side without someone who uses twisted logic like that?!"

All of Connla's experiences were shut down just like that. To him, it was like hearing a rejection of everything he stood for.

Instead of showing his peaked anger in words, the shadows answered for him through expelling erratically shaped edges from his body. A bloodcurdling scream tore itself from his throat as he tried to shred the existence in front of him to nothing.

All the shadows were utterly destroyed by the right hand held out in front of the boy.

"If you have the energy to complain, then you have the energy to turn your life around. You chose to side with Cao Cao, so for now I'll destroy your illusions just a bit. Get ready Connla!" Kamijou took a step forward.

"Don't look down on meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" Connla pushed himself past his limits and released a single wave of a shadows. An almost 2-dimensional edge cut down everything above a certain level.

Kamijou was already on the ground before he finished carrying through the motions.

The trees above a certain height fell to the ground and the air was rent asunder. Connla saw Kamijou on the ground assume a runner's start.

Kamijou kicked off the ground and propelled himself towards the man armored in shadows. Connla's right hand was replaced with a pale blade. He charged towards the high school boy with a wordless scream.

Fist met blade. Connla gasped in shock as the blade was completely shattered without a trace of it remaining. The fist relentlessly continued forward. He tried twisting his body to avoid it, but he exhausted himself too much by abusing his Balance Breaker.

His shadowy shroud fell to pieces as the fist crashed into his face, breaking his nose and stealing his consciousness away. The last thing he saw before hitting the ground was the sight of an unwavering boy. _'__Cao…Cao…'_

"This isn't over yet." Kamijou began speaking to himself. "Their boss and the rest of them are still here planning something." He clenched his right hand tightly.

"I'm ba—oh, it's over." A kitsune sprinting alongside other Youkai made their way to the newly created clearing. They were all pumped up with fighting spirit, so when they saw that the battle was already over, all the energy drained from them.

"Hm? Oh, you're here. Why do you all look so disappointed?" Not just the little kitsune, but everyone else were ready to pummel Connla to near death. Their honor won't let them beat on an unconscious person thought, so they can only feel disappointment.

"Well…no reason." Kunou had to answer because no one could respond with the truth. "Anyways!" She clapped her hands to get everyone's attention.

"Capture this man and interrogate him when he wakes up." Two Tengus slouch over to the Hero Faction member's body and pick him up. They fly back from wherever they came.

Most of the other Youkai disperse as well, leaving just a few others left. "So, what do we do know?" Kamijou directed that question to the young kitsune.

"Um…let's go back home."

"Home…" Kamijou unknowingly slipped into a slump. Right before he could think depressing thoughts he slapped both cheeks with his hands and psyched himself up.

"Right, let me crash at your place. I don't have anywhere else to stay." Kunou instantly agreed.

"Of course. Let us show you our hospitality!" Kamijou gave a sarcastic laugh at that.

"Hospitality? Oh don't worry. I've experienced a lot of it here already. Restaurants, cells, alleyways, hehehe." With each word Kunou flinched. Invisible arrows stabbed into her body with how miserable Kamijou was making out his experience to be.

"Sorry." Her fox ears flattened against her head.

"Hm, what are you apologizing for? Let's go already." Kamijou stretched his arms and went on ahead. Kunou merely blankly stared forward before collecting herself.

"Hey, wait up! I'm supposed to be leading you!" She chased after Kamijou and her bodyguards followed after her.


	4. Never Say Goodbye

**AN: Sorry for the slow updates. College is pretty exhausting.**

**Sagnik Deb: Nah it's not yaoi. Just friends trolling. Glad you enjoyed the chapter though.**

**shiroryuu012: The fist of justice is definitely unisex. I think I have an idea when Issei will realize Touma's gender equality.**

**matrience: Thanks for the follow.**

**Ylnadiir: Hopefully this chapter's gonna get you pumped as well.**

**Sergio644: Who knows how the disease will take effect? Glad you're enjoying this so far.**

**ChancePluto: Illusions being shattered will always happen as long as this mad lad exists.**

**SilverCrow: Thanks for the review.**

**Guest: It's obvious whose charisma will succeed, right?**

**StoryReiter: Not just Touma but his other two companions are definitely gonna impact the world something fierce.**

**Kuma098: Will you ever remember the joke? I'm feeling curious.**

**FAFNIR9029: Glad you like it.**

* * *

Chapter 3: Core_Spark_Recursion

Kamijou eventually reached the mansion that he ran out of earlier. This time he was lead back peacefully by Kunou. It wouldn't be wrong to say that he's ecstatic that he doesn't have to run around again.

Ever since he was thrown in this world's Kyoto, he's been doing nothing but running and strung along as a waiter for two separate restaurants. "Could my luck actually be that bad…?" He wondered to himself for just a moment.

He released a chuckle full of despair. "Of course it would be that bad."

"Hey, what are you muttering to yourself?" The curious kitsune slowed down her pace to keep up with the tired Kamijou. She still couldn't quite catch what he was saying.

He shakes his head." No, it was nothing. I just need to get some sleep." The yawn accentuates his desire for a good night's rest.

"We will show you only the finest. We Youkai offer the best hospitality to humans more than any other supernatural races!" She grins as if to show off a special service; almost like she's competing with others in a business, which isn't inaccurate.

"Oh, wow." Kamijou gives a round of applause in a monotone voice. The young kitsune preens as her tails swish around.

Kamijou curiously looks around the place as they both walk in along with the bodyguards. He didn't get a chance to give this place more than a cursory view because he had to escape. Now that he has the go-to to relax around here temporarily, he can leisurely tour the area.

"Do you know where the guest rooms are?" Kunou temporarily paused. _'Of all things, the guest rooms? I was going to show you around the entire place as an apology, but you just want to sleep?'_

"Yeah…they're on the end." She responds with much less enthusiasm than before. Naturally, Kamijou being the tired and dense person that he is, doesn't pick up on it and continues on to where she pointed.

"Woah!" He gasped in pleasant shock. What laid before him was the most holy futon he has ever seen in his life.

Pure pristine whiteness, glorious softness, cleanliness, all of it blended together to create the perfect futon. As he stares at it, he speaks with a light tone.

"I take back everything I said about this Kyoto. It was all worth it to see this futon. Uh, what did you say your name was?" He turned to Kunou with a confused look.

"I am Kunou, daughter of Yasaka and the temporary leader of all Youkai as of now." She wasn't too happy with saying that last part. Her mother is still missing and she doesn't even know if she's okay or not.

"Alright then, Kunou. I guess I'll see you in the morning." Kamijou waved right before shutting the folding door. The first thing he did was fall straight onto the futon, one that he's not used to in the slightest.

All he knows is the hard comfort of a bathtub, which he grew to like eventually. His breathing started to even and he finally slipped into a deep sleep.

Outside the door was the little Kitsune and the two bodyguards. "Lady Kunou, are you going to visit the prisoner now?" She twitched a little bit from the reminder. She just nodded and walked off with the two trailing behind her.

* * *

Connla's in a similar cell to the one Kamijou was in. A difference is that he was blindfolded, chained up instead of handcuffs, and muffled. Judging by his breathing, he should still be awake.

His ears were at least still unblocked, so he did hear the sound of feet stomping on the floor. His breathing evened out when the muffle was violently ripped from his mouth.

"Where is my mother? What is your group planning to do with her?" He recognizes that voice. She was there along with the one Cao Cao wanted. The moment he had that thought, he his mind went back in time to that moment.

The moment where all his ideals were renounced and trampled on just like that. _'I wasn't…we weren't wrong. We're just trying to get humanity to the top of the food chain where they should be.'_

He tuned out the outsides voices and sunk into a semiconscious state, ruminating what Kamijou said to him.

_'__What's the difference between us? He should've gone through the same thing I did, yet he could take a different path? No, his path his wrong and cowardly. How dare he try to make nice with these freaks!'_

A small hand grabbed him by the collar, snapping him out of his thoughts. His deadpan frown turned upward into a smirk.

"You're going to tell me everything. There is no time to waste." There's an underlying ferocity he can sense in those words.

He didn't think this little brat had it in her to actually hold an interrogation and threaten him like this. He still won't spill anything to her though. That is the depths of his loyalty.

"You think I'll tell you anything? A damn beast like you has no right to talk down to humans like this. We see you for what you supernaturals really are. Nothing but lowly creatures trying to suffocate the potential of humanity." He heard a growl and the sizzling of flames.

His sardonic grin and bitter laugh told Kunou that her efforts would all be in vain. "Do your worst."

Even though she so desperately wanted to torture him out of a sense of vengeance, she just couldn't bring herself to do it. She left with an exhausted expression. Connla sat there and attempted to get some rest.

"Since lady Kunou couldn't get anything out of you, let's have a bit a fun together, you and I." He didn't have any time to react before a foot crashed into his cheek.

* * *

There was a yawn that represented a wonderful rest. The person this yawn came from brought himself to a sitting position and stretched. He creaking of his bones almost made him let loose a moan.

The last time he's had a good night's rest like that was…he can't even recall. "I have to thank her for this." He smiled and fixed up the futon like the way it was before he disturbed it.

He opened the sliding door to see a person standing right there. It was a single kitsune that wasn't the little girl that chased him around yesterday. Neither of them said nothing, which made for an awkward silence.

"So…what are you doing here?" _'Wait, don't tell me he was up all night here?! I'm so sorry!'_

"I was tasked by Kunou to receive you, but it seems you woke up just in time." The misunderstanding was cleared up and Kamijou sighed in relief that he didn't take a person's precious sleep away from them.

"Oh. Thanks." The awkward silence returned.

"Follow me." The stoic kitsune was not inclined to talking and Kamijou felt that speaking haphazardly would only make things worse. His experience with things like this have finally embedded itself into his brain.

He's not going to say something stupid ever again.

"Where is Connla?" The kitsune paused and inclined his head to show confusion. "The guy that was captured yesterday." Kamijou clarified.

"He's being held in a cell. He was interrogated last night by lady Kunou herself." _'She did it herself? That chibi? Wait a sec…'_

"Did you guys find out anything important?" He has a bad feeling about what happened last night while he was asleep. The likes of someone as devoted of Connla speaking is nil.

So, the man replied to Kamijou like it was something obvious. "She tried to wring out some information, but it failed. The guards took over and they managed to...convince him to talk. He promised to tell everyone today." His voice had no changes in inflection.

His blood chilled a bit. He doesn't want to assume anything, so he won't say anything. "We're here." Another sliding door opened to reveal a nice room with a large table where multiple people are seated.

A brown-haired high school student and his fellow classmates around him, a blond and black-haired middle-aged man with a goatee, a woman with twin-tails and obviously inhumanly colored eyes, and that silver-haired lady from the other day.

He was surprised by the colorful assortment of people in this room. There was an air of graveness here that he felt like he was intruding on. Everyone stared at him including Kunou and then his escort shut the door on him.

_'__What's with this pre-final boss room?! It feels like everyone's gathering to face a last boss!' _Needless to say, he wasn't prepared to be thrown into a tiger's den.

"Right here." Kunou cheerfully patted the seat right next to her. Kamijou, seeing a way out of an awkward situation through doing nothing but standing there, instantly sat beside her.

His attempts at trying to fade into the background were failing immensely with everyone looking at him. Only two people recognize him.

"Ah! You're the kid from last night." That silver-haired lady dressed in red just realized who she was looking at. Azazel is having a tough time trying to keep a straight face.

He also remembers an innocent high school boy being mercilessly gunned down for his body while he hovered above laughing. He managed to finally solve the issue of the crazy molesters, but it didn't change the fact that he watched someone almost get mobbed. It was quite hilarious to him.

"Hm? Oh it's you." And with that, it started all the introductions.

"Um, what's your name?" The brown-haired high school student broke the ice.

"I'm Kamijou Touma. Who are you guys and why is everyone seated here?" The serious mood that was starting to clear up returned harsher than before. Kamijou immediately felt the change in pressure and cursed himself for making it return with a vengeance.

"Introductions can wait. We were discussing what we needed to do about the Hero Faction." _'Them!' _He realized what the gathering was for.

"Were you guys attacked by them too?" He rubbed the back of his head in confusion. His question was answered with a shake of the fallen angel's head.

"Not yet. We came here to speak with the leader, but then we found out she was taken by the Hero Faction. We're planning to stop whatever they're doing and take her back. We're here because the little miss seems to have gotten some information from one of their members."

Kamijou remembered. That other kitsune told him that Kunou tried to get some info and failed. He can't accept that. _'Is Connla really alright with what he's doing?'_

"Yeah, that's right. I got some stuff from him. He should be ready to speak. I've already sent for someone to get him." As if on command, the door opened to reveal an older kitsune and Connla in handcuffs. He still has the blindfold on his face.

There's no signs of any damage on him that Kamijou was looking for, but that could've been healed up to leave no trace.

The stoic guard stood behind him in case he tried anything funny. He had no access to anything with the cuffs binding him, but who knows what he'll do.

"Well? Ready to tell us the secrets behind your little game?" Azazel tried to goad him into talking.

"I still won't say anything." Kunou gasped. "No matter what, I won't betray my boss!"

"You said you would talk!" The little kitsune growled at him. He turned towards her and even without the eyes visible, the grin spelled out his feelings.

"Oh? I must've lied then. Your guards did their worst to make me spill, but their worst wasn't that bad in the slightest. Kamijou's suspicions were right, but he'll address that later.

Right now he needs to find out where the rest of them are, so that he can stop them.

"Issei!" One of the people at the table that seemed to be Kamijou's age called out to someone.

"What the hell are you talking about?" That someone was the hot-blooded brown-haired boy who stormed up to the Hero Faction member and gripped him by the collar. "You guys keep screwing around! You and the Khaos Brigade! Just tell us already!"

Kamijou ignored the important parts of that demand. He ignored what he might've needed to listen to for the future and merely walked up to Connla with a calm look on his face.

He ignored all the racing thoughts in his mind and just spoke from the heart.

"Why are you doing this?" The brown-haired boy's grip loosened. Kamijou ignored how everyone's gazes seemed to have focused on him. "I know how you must've felt, but do you think your boss feels the same?"

"Shut up. You don't know a single thing." That sparked a reaction from Connla. Kamijou continued to talk.

"Who cares what your boss thinks?! What did you want to do at the very beginning when you joined up with him? Did you want to destroy everyone who looked down on you and their own race by association, or did you just want the pain to end? It won't end unless you tell us everything, so that we can put an end to this ourselves!"

"You…" He struggled to come up with something, anything that would tell him to reject the words in front of him. He couldn't. This person in front of him, even if he couldn't see him, was shining just as bright as Cao Cao did when he was recruited for the Hero Faction.

"…Nijo Castle." He was almost so quiet that his words were almost missed. "That's where they are. I won't tell you anything else."

He clammed up. It's probably true that no matter what is done to him, he won't open his mouth again. Thankfully, they got all they needed from him.

The kitsune escorted nodded to everyone and escorted Connla back from where he was pulled from. Issei and Kamijou both sat down in their respective seats.

"Alright. Now that we got the information, we'll head out. I'll call in some help and hope that they'll arrive on time. You all need to head to Nijo Castle and deal with the Hero Faction yourselves." Azazel walked out of the room.

"I'll gather all the angels, fallen angels, and devils to secure the perimeter. No baddie will escape us!" The twin-tailed girl did a wink and also left.

"So…" Kamijou awkwardly scratched his cheek as everyone stared at one another. "Shall we go?"

The brown-haired boy exuberantly nodded in agreement. "Let's go!" He dashed out of the building and everyone followed. Including Kunou.

Kamijou noticed this and stepped in her way. She instantly realized what he was trying to do and shot a pointed glare at him.

"You're not stopping me. That's my mother and there's no way I'm going to sit here and do nothing!" No matter how resolute she is though, that's not going to get through to the boy standing in her way.

"Don't worry, just leave things to us." She's still extremely unconvinced and raring to charge ahead. All her immediate thoughts were halted with a hand gently rubbing her head. She looked up and saw a serene smile.

"You have a city of Youkai to look after right? Don't worry. I promise that we'll return your mother safe and sound. Leave everything to us." She gave a small, hesitant nod.

That's all that Kamijou needed to head over to Nijo Castle along with the rest of the devils. He left Kunou along with her thoughts.

_'__He's like a big brother…'_

* * *

"Ah damnit! Where did they go?" Kamijou Touma has already ran into a conundrum. He was going to follow them, but he didn't account for them to be so quick.

In all fairness, he can't be totally blamed for this lapse of thinking. He had no clue that they were devils, and he had even less of an idea about how quick they were. Though he should've at least expected them to fly off like the other two did.

All he can do is hurry to Nijo Castle on his slow human legs. He quickly sprints over there as fast as possible.

"I should've asked one of them for a ride. How could I be so stupid!" Even if he's out of breath by the time he arrives, he needs to give it all he's got to make it there in time.

It would be quite the comedic tragedy if he arrived after all the action finished. Just the imagination of that happening after he acted all cool and said what he said to Kunou is enough to make him speed up.

That would be far too embarrassing for him to live anymore. While he was running at full speeds, he crashed into something he didn't even notice. A high-pitched sound rang out, and then he heard an explosion.

Nijo Castle is burning. Out in the daylight. While regular people are walking out in Kyoto. Panic doesn't even begin to describe the emotion welling up within everyone, supernatural or not.

"Fuck!" Kamijou heard it. He didn't know who uttered it, but it was definitely heard. Whoever said it basically uttered the sentiments of everyone who saw the travesty.

The Youkai are extremely irritated and somewhat afraid of what will happen if they don't erase every trace of this event, and the everyday human beings are in shock of how Nijo Castle randomly combusted into flames.

What Kamijou broke was a sort of "people-clearing field" that many supernatural beings employ to hide anything unnatural breaking out to the natural world.

The majority of normal humans saw the famous castle on fire and that's something that can't be denied. The Youkai are already working in full to erase any memories of the event.

Imagine Breaker is truly an unnatural and terrifying thing in this world. The wielder of this right hand didn't notice the repercussions of what he did and the ripples already flying across the world.

A butterfly's wingbeat causes a hurricane somewhere else. What Kamijou did may have nearly caused a breakdown of the normal world. At least the barrier was quickly reapplied with the person behind its destruction inside.

In the distance, Kamijou saw a rampaging giant nine-tailed fox with a purple serpent wrapped around it. He quickly hurried his pace in an anxious dash to the danger.

The moment he arrived to the battlefield, his feet skid to a halt. Everyone he saw at the table is unconscious besides a new figure clad in crimson armor. In front of the armored dragonoid, Cao Cao turned towards Kamijou with a barbaric smirk.

"I was wondering when you'd show up. That barrier bursting was definitely you then, Kamijou Touma!" He seems beaten and battered, but he's still not down. The red one definitely pushed him hard and the nine-tailed fox is still fighting against the purple serpent.

Kamijou has no idea what's going on right now, but he's not going to let this tragedy continue any longer.

"I'm the one who you're fighting!" Hyoudou Issei, the Red Dragon Emperor, stood up and once again boosted his strength. "Kamijou-san, right?! Please deal with the mess over there and leave this bastard to me!"

Kamijou nodded and took off in the direction where Yasaka's rampaging. Cao Cao was struck dumb for a moment that he was completely ignored by Kamijou, but that moment nearly cost him the fight as an armored first came swinging for his head.

He offset the blow with his spear, but he was still pushed back. _'This new power of his is troubling… No. I'm not wasting anymore time. I'm done playing games.' _Cao Cao uttered two powerful words.

"_Balance Break!" _An immense holy power nearly shattered the barriers again. The level of the power continued to climb and then seven orbs of pure light spread out, surrounding the wielder of the True Longinus.

"This is the power of the strongest Longinus. Do you think you have what it takes, Red Dragon Emperor?" His arrogance was plain to see, but that didn't matter to Issei.

"I don't give a damn about how many balls of light you got stacked up, I'm still taking your ass down! **Welsh Draconic Rook! [Change Solid Impact!]**" Issei's Balance Breaker bulked up in volume.

He was brashly talking, but he wasn't going to underestimate Cao Cao's Balance Breaker. He needs as much defense as possible to ascertain his new power. Also…

He looked up to see the seven balls of light pulsating with a large ring of light around each. _'I've gotta a bad feeling about those things._' He grimaced and charged at the now flying Cao Cao.

"I'll congratulate you for pushing me this far, but this ends now." The tip of the glowing spear struck the heavy first of the Scale Mail armor. The collision shattered the air around them.

Neither were pushed back. Cao Cao's confident grin showed he had no worries in the slightest. One of the balls of light morphed into the shape of a spear. Issei's eyes widened in panic as he tried to turn his body.

It penetrated deep in his armor but didn't quite pierce all the way through. Cao Cao clicked his tongue had the hardness of his armor. The rest of the six balls of light morphed into spears as Issei disengaged.

In the form he's in right now, he can't dodge them.

"**Welsh Sonic Boost Knight! [Change Star Sonic!]**" The increased speed allowed him to maneuver around the lightning fast spears of light. He boosted himself rapidly to close in on Cao Cao.

Then, right in front of his eyes…he vanished. Issei's shoulder was pierced completely through from behind. _'What just happened?'_He used all the speed he could and dashed away from the spear.

The blade left his shoulder, which started gushing blood. "Ddraig take care of the armor!" The burning pain from the holy weapon is exceptionally painful on his devil body.

Cao Cao smirks triumphantly because he's assured of his win. His Balance Breaker is surely an abnormally strong one. "**Partner watch out. That's a subspecies and I'm guessing that each of those orbs possess a different ability.**"

"That's fine by me." Issei grinned. There's no way he's going down so easily.

"Let's go all in Ddraig!" The power of the Knight, the power of the Rook, the power of the Bishop. Because he's a pawn, he can turn into a queen. For some reason he couldn't do it before, but that doesn't matter to him at the moment.

If he can't do it, then he'll force it. A forced Queen form for his Scale Mail. The rapid-fire "Boosts" echoing out of his sacred gear is proof that he's forcing a new form.

The armor begins to be surrounded by a haze of pure red energy. The armored figure is barely visible inside of it as a painful-looking transformation is taking place in it. The Scale Mail increased in size, grew jagged, uneven wings and became more barbaric looking.

"You think I'll give you time to transform?!" Cao Cao barked harshly.

He bent his knees and charged forward, thrusting his spear at blinding speeds. An armored fist met it once again.

The haze was blown away and what's in front of Cao Cao is a very unbalanced looking creature. The humanoid shape has been somewhat lost but the power balance between the three forms has been almost attained.

Sacred Gears respond in accordance to their owner's will. This is Issei's answer and will towards Cao Cao's Balance Breaker.

"Interesting, very interesting! You're truly almost as interesting as the other one!"

* * *

Kamijou Touma is running towards the Kaiju battle. The two titanic creatures are ravaging the land around them and causing minor quakes with each movement.

He tried to get closer, but the undulations of the purple serpent ravaged the field and caused minor quakes distracting enough to unbalance Kamijou. The giant fox isn't helping with blue fire sipping out of its maw and its rampage on the purple serpent.

The purple serpent's maw clasped down hard on the shoulder of the fox. It's slender, yet powerful body curled around the legs in order to restrict its movement. The strong bind was still broken by the fox flexing her full power and blasting the surroundings with flames. The lava-like fire seeping out of her mouth was a prelude to a huge breath of flames.

Those flames were stalemated by the dragon's own intense black flames. The heat of both of the flames melted the ground. The lingering flames were put out by the dragon's control over shadows. They charged at each other and collided heads.

The two opponents are Yasaka and Genshirou Saji who is merely using the full power of his sacred gear. He had no choice but to transform into that giant purple dragon. He's using the form of Vritra to contain Yasaka's berserk state.

The two mythical creatures are dead even. A bit further away from the two is the magician named Georg. An innumerable amount of magic circles were surrounding him. It seemed like he was trying to do something complicated based on the heavy sweating on his face.

Whatever he was doing, Kamijou doesn't know. All he needs to do is stop the rampage of the two monsters in front of him. He took steady steps to keep himself balanced.

"Tch!" He clicked his tongue and broke off into a dash. After taking a couple slow steps, he decided that it wasn't worth wasting time just to be a little bit safer. He already knew the risks of being here, so he's going to get this over with as quick as possible.

Before he could reach them though, he was intercepted by a blade trying to cleave his head straight off. He barely had time to duck below the obviously fatal attack. Before he could catch his breath, he saw a man wearing missiles for hands that fired straight at him. He couldn't focus his attention on that though because there was a blonde girl forming a field of blades inching his way towards him.

He grit his teeth and ran towards the missiles. He jumped on one of them and quickly jumped off before it exploded point-blank on him. He rode the explosion over the valley of blades. When he finally had time to catch his breath he noticed three people who stood in front of him.

Two of the three looked familiar.

"Oh, how could you do this to us, your precious comrades!" The dramatic Jeanne looked like she was on the edge of tears, but it was more fake than anything else. Siegfried was in full battle mode, so the only thing he showed was a bloodthirsty grin.

The new guy, Heracles was grinning as well, in a more arrogant way. "So, this is the guy who Cao Cao was interesting in recruiting? Doesn't look like much to me."

"Doesn't matter. Fight now." Siegfried moved so quickly, that he was just a blur to Kamijou's eyes. Before his mind could even perceive what was happening, his hand was already moving in the pathway of the supernatural blade. Before the outcome of either his bisection or the blade breaking happened, another sword came from behind and blocked the possibilities from happening.

"We'll take over from here. You help Saji with the berserk Yasaka." A calm and tired voice spoke up and pushed Siegfried back.

Two other people came from behind and charged at the other two Hero Faction Members for a revenge match. The people that helped him were the three that were already knocked out. They got back on their feet and restarted the fight.

Kamijou nodded at the blond boy and charged directly at the two titanic beasts duking it out.

* * *

The colossal beasts could turn him into paste in an instant. _'Wait, what's that?'_

Kamijou saw a thin film of something covering the giant fox. He clenched his right fist. _'I just need to touch that with my right hand, and maybe that'll work.' _

It's a risky plan, but he's going to do it. When has he ever let fear overcome him?

Running closer to them is a bit more dangerous than he thought because of how much shaking is going on. He can barely keep his footing so he planted himself.

"You have a daughter that's worried about you, so it's time to wake up!" His yell pulled the two giants' attention to him. While Saji was distracted, the berserk nine-tailed fox threw him off to the side and charged straight at the black-haired teen.

Compared to the mountain sized fox, he was nothing more than a shoot of bamboo in the path of a typhoon. The maddened fox dropped its paw on Kamijou's head with the force of a fifty-ton guillotine.

With a shout, he intercepted the fatal smash with his right hand. The sound of something breaking apart was audible to everyone there. There was a rebound as the giant fox was slightly pushed away by the effects of something on her getting negated.

She fell to the ground causing tremors to be felt by Kamijou. Yasaka visibly shrunk to the form of a woman. He stumbled towards her to make sure she wasn't injured that badly.

When he got close, he noticed just how out of it she was. In his peripheral, he saw the purple serpent shrink to a more human form as well. He turned and noticed it was one of the guys fighting against the Hero Faction.

He grinned. "Thanks for the help, buddy! The name's Genshirou Saji." Kamijou nodded with a tired grin.

"God damnit! Do you have any idea how much work you two just ruined?! I had to make sure the coordinates were correct, make sure the Feng Shui synced up with the youkai, and then I had to make sure she didn't go too berserk and exhaust herself right before using her to call Great Red!"

Georg floated down, walked up to the two high school boys, and launched a tirade all while fiercely clawing his hair out. To call him upset would be an understatement. He worked so hard to set up this perfect formation and it was completely destroyed.

The Imagine Breaker held nothing back, so there wasn't anything to salvage. Once Georg realized this, he became apoplectic. When he was busy using those magic circles to keep everything under acceptable control, Kamijou's right hand ruined everything.

The formulas weren't just destroyed or negated or even shredded into dust. They were completely blown apart without a trace of them even existing in the first place. The cause behind his anger lies directly in front of him.

Kamijou lifted up Yasaka's arm and supported her with his shoulder. She was knocked unconscious from the feedback. "You…" Georg attempted to collect himself.

"Of all people it had to be you, a fellow human. You're nothing more than a traitor to the human race. We, the Hero Faction, were so close to achieving our goal. We were going to topple and overturn the idea of humans being weak and exploitable and you completely ruined it. What do you have to say for yourself?"

Georg was confused, shocked, and angry. He grit his teeth and aimed his palm right at Kamijou. Depending on his answer, he was going to fire something destructive.

"Traitor? I don't care about stuff like that. I just saw someone suffering and helped them out. That's all. If you want to overturn the weakness of humanity then go do it in more positive ways!" Georg laughed.

"Good, good. That's real nice. You have a very nice heroic personality in that mind of yours, don't you? It would've been so nice if you could've at least turned a bit of that heroism towards your own race instead of mucking things up like this!" He didn't accept that answer.

He was about to fire a blast of pure magic, but a dark cord attached itself to his arm. He looked to the side of Kamijou and saw Saji holding out a gauntlet with the cord coming from it. The look on Georg's face could've vaporized steel.

"Leave this to me. Hyoudo will need some help. That Cao Cao guy…he's dangerous." Saji narrowed his eyes and held out his free arm in front of Kamijou. He nodded towards the blond and set down Yasaka in a safe position.

He then forced his battered body to run back to the one he needs to defeat the most. _'Now that I think about it, I've been through a lot of stuff the past couple days. I know this usually happens a bit more than I would like it to, but could I get at least a nice vacation break anytime soon?'_

There was the initial fight with Thor, which really had him injured. Soon after that he was displaced through a building with all the glass in his legs. He then ran around Kyoto for a day and a half and then got into a fight with a shadow user. Now he's fighting against a powerful group of humans on top of that.

He just can't catch a break in the slightest. His lips twitched upwards at that thought. _'Well, it's not like I would have it any other way. Better that I get involved in these incidents than not.'_

* * *

He got closer to where his ally in red armor was fighting against Cao Cao. The lance-wielder himself is posed in mid-air taking a strange stance with his spear. There was a strange, almost respectful look in his eyes as he stared at Issei.

He was still holding up with one knee on the ground. Cao Cao was charging his stronger move from the arsenal granted to him by his Balance Breaker.

Balinayaka Ratana.

The seven pulsating orbs of light behind him started to all rotate around the True Longinus. They started spinning so fast, it formed a still halo of light. The illusion of stillness was maintained by the sheer speed of the orbs' rotation.

"This is the finishing blow. Take this, Red Dragon Emperor!" A platform of light, one perpendicular to the ground, appeared behind him.

He ran as fast as possible to stop it.

Cao Cao placed his feet on the transparent light and kicked right off of it at speeds quick enough to make the air scream out. The light shattered from the stress of the kick and the lance started glowing. It inched towards Issei at light speeds.

Right before it penetrated the armor and stole his life, a fist completely smashed through the spear, utterly shattering it. The fist's momentum didn't halt, and neither did Cao Cao's. It smashed right onto his forehead, knocking him back some meters.

His back arched through the air and he made a rough landing on the uneven ground. He immediately stood up and glared at who got in his way. Right in front of his eyes, the one in front of the Red Dragon emperor with his right hand outstretched in the form of a fist…was Kamijou Touma.

"Y-you? You're getting in my way again, Kamijou Touma!" He spat out that name as if biting into a very sour lemon. He never expected the effect his power had on sacred gears would hold true against his True Longinus.

_'__No, I can't think like that. It must be some kind of trick. I'll just probe it out…' _

The cracks in Issei's armor started to spread and it eventually broke apart. He no longer had the energy to keep his Balance Break up, so he nearly collapsed to the ground. He's barely holding himself up, having enough energy to glare at Cao Cao who isn't even paying attention to him anymore.

"Thanks, Kamijou-san." Issei gasped for breath.

"I'll try to take care of the rest."

"I'm not giving you anymore chances, Kamijou Touma." He resummoned the lance in his hands. All of his plans were crushed because of the two boys in front of him. If Issei didn't stall him for Kamijou to stop Yasaka, everything would've been flowing smoothly.

Even if his enemy is human, he can't accomplish his dreams without breaking a few eggs here and there. With that thought on his mind he smirked and rushed forward at superhuman speeds.

Kamijou's specs are all lower than Cao Cao's. He doesn't have any special magic to boost his specs, nor is he an Esper with a special ability that can allow him to destroy an army. All he has is his wits and his special right arm, and…

_'__W-what? I should be faster than him, so how? How did he see through my moves like that?!' _Cao Cao's spear was barely evaded and he had an uppercut waiting for him. He couldn't dodge because he overextended. It was unnatural.

He never thought that another human could react that quickly. Because he tried to end it in a single, swift blow, he was blown back by another punch. It was enough to rattle his skull and send his brain bouncing all around the inside of his head, but Cao Cao isn't that weak to fall from that.

He's hardened his body and trained rigorously every day for the sake of his goal. To bring Humanity itself past the realm of the supernatural. For them to stand at the very peak of the world with him as the spearhead, he trained and trained and trained until he could barely move.

With his body soaring above the ground, he flipped backwards and caught Kamijou's chin with the ball of his foot. What Kamijou did to him, he paid it back with interest. Cao Cao found his footing and called back his spear once more.

While Kamijou was disoriented and on the ground, he stabbed towards his direction. Kamijou rolled away from the initial thrust, but he wasn't allowed to rest with the multitude of thrusts continuing to attempt to pierce him.

He didn't get a chance to stand up, so he continued to roll. The next thrust was blown away by a swipe of Kamijou's right hand. _'That confirms it,' _Cao Cao belatedly thought.

His balance was thrown off a bit by the loss of his weapon, so Kamijou kicked at his legs from below and tripped him. Before he fell all the way to the ground Kamijou mounted him and attempted to punch him.

"Why can't you just use simple and peaceful ways to rise to the top. If you really wanted to save humanity from exploitation, then at least don't go after those who did nothing wrong!"

Those words triggered something within Cao Cao. _'Did nothing wrong…?' _Humanity did nothing wrong, but they naturally fell to the bottom of the food chain.

That was something he could never accept. Whether it was his pride or some twisted ideal that fell to the side along the way, he initially couldn't accept the idea of humanity being glorified livestock for the supernatural races.

Now, he wants to take humanity to the very top no matter what. Nothing is allowed to get in his way.

"Don't fuck with me, you naïve bastard!" Cao Cao slammed rose up and slammed his forehead on the bridge of Kamijou's nose.

He stood up and didn't even bother to summon his spear. He punched straight through Kamijou's hastily put up guard and nearly knocked him out.

"I don't need the spear. I'll use the strength I cultivated my whole life, my own human strength to destroy you!" He rapidly shortened the distance between him and Kamijou and feinted a left cross.

He instead threw a whip-like kick to his right side that knocked the wind out of him. Kamijou held on strong and tossed out a wild back fist to Cao Cao's left temple. Three blows to the head so far, which have increasingly exacerbated his balance.

Meanwhile, Kamijou's injuries from his battle with Thor were already healing. Though it hasn't finished yet, so this battle is only putting more stress on them.

Cao Cao saw Kamijou run at him from an odd angle. _'No, my sense of balance is all skewed.' _The whole world in his eyes looks tilted 15 degrees to the right. He tried to focus his vision and he caught a punch to the cheek. He powered through it.

"That's not even close to enough!" He caught Kamijou in a headlock under his arms and repeatedly kneed his gut. He kept doing it over and over until his stomach and chest were making odd sounds.

"Gah!" He eventually spat out blood while struggling to get out of the lock. Cao Cao continued to mercilessly pound away at his stomach and when that wasn't enough for it he tried to cave in his chest with a single heavy knee strike.

Something cracked and it wasn't Kamijou's will to fight. "You stand here against us with your incessant need to make your ideals reality, yet you don't have the strength to do so. You don't know the way of the supernatural, yet you decide to get involved and swing your fist as if you're right. Why do you denounce me as wrong?"

He stopped his assault and waited for an answer. Kamijou didn't even need a second to respond.

"Everyone's right in their own perspective. I don't care about stuff like that. If someone is suffering from grief, then isn't it natural to try to help them? I saw a little girl desperately hurting for her mother back so I decided to fight against you."

"You're dodging the question with petty moralism."

"You still don't get it," Kamijou spat out. "I never cared about right or wrong in the first place! I stopped you because I wanted to. I'll impose my selfish ideals onto the world to make it a better place as much as possible and I won't shy from any ugliness. If your dream leads you to killing and spreading unnecessary pain…_Then I'll stop you no matter what. _That's my own will and nobody else's!"

Kamijou roared and grabbed the back of Cao Cao's shirt. He pooled together all the strength he had left and pulled him down to the ground. He slammed him hard and knocked the air out of him.

Cao Cao immediately had a second wind and pulled Kamijou down to the ground with him.

It was Cao Cao who ended up on top. He was breathing heavily, but he had a victorious smile on his face. "Even with those words of yours, they still mean nothing if you lose. True strength…is all that matters in this world."

Both his feet were on Kamijou's wrists. He couldn't move. The spear reappeared in Cao Cao's hand again and he thrusted through Kamijou's skull without hesitation.

* * *

Or…he would've pierced through his skull if there wasn't a blade blocking it. Cao Cao rigidly followed the blade all the way up a red gauntlet and continued to see Issei stopping him.

He pressed down hard on his spear, but Issei pushed back even harder and blew him away.

"Hyoudou Issei!" He choked that out with great fury. His eyes were set ablaze with a mixture of rage and resolve.

"It's over Cao Cao! We already smashed your damn plan to bits, so give it up already! We're not afraid to beat your ass into the ground as well!"

The wielder of the True Longinus didn't hesitate and darted towards Issei. Both of them are so low on reserves that they can't even use Balance Breakers anymore, but that's not going to stop them.

Issei danced a deadly rondo of blades and light with Cao Cao. He had to use Ascalon to prevent even a nick from a basically souped-up holy spear. With both of the opponents moving so fast, not even the sonic booms could keep up with them.

The next exchange was interrupted by a right hand throwing itself in the middle of the dance and accurately landing on and destroying the True Longinus again. Issei took this opportunity to rip through him. A crimson line made its way through his clothes and onto his skin. blood seeped onto his clothes and dripped to the ground

"I won't let it end like this…My ambition!" Cao Cao started backing up. A multitude of footsteps started reaching them. The Hero Faction stood in front of Cao Cao and Issei's comrades stood right by him.

It seemed like the Hero Faction was going to retreat, but Cao Cao's spirit was ignited during that fight.

"Cao Cao not now!" Siegfried tried to stop him, but it was too late.

He started rotating the reformed holy spear while chanting. "O' Spear. The true Holy Spear which pierces through God. Suck the ambition of the King of Domination sleeping within me and pierce through the gap of blessing and destruction. You. Announce the will, and turn into a glow!"

The blinding white light was like radiation towards the devils. Out of everyone there besides Cao Cao, only Kamijou was unaffected by the initial shine.

_'__You're wrong, Kamijou Touma. My goal isn't just right in my own perspective, the will of god is with me. It's because of that—through all the tribulations I've overcome—I know… I know that my dream isn't a mistake. So, I will show you the pride of humanity. After all, this spear isn't just backed by god's will. It's backed by my own as well!'_

**"—****Truth Idea!"**

A wave of pure holy light flared outwards. If it touched any devil, they would be undoubtedly erased. Kamijou didn't know about this fatal weakness, but he fortunately still stood in the way of that wave.

He pulled back his hand, curled it into a fist, and sent it flying forward with everything he had into that encroaching wall. It gave way like a thin papier-mâché.

God's Will felt a deleterious effect on itself. The spear left Cao Cao's hand and started facing forward from his chest. He grinned and guided it with his own Will. A hyperdense white orb of light began forming at the spear tip.

_'__You're right, Cao Cao. I barely know anything about the supernatural in this world and I know absolutely nothing about you. You might feel that you're in the right, and I could be the most evil villain in your perspective. I don't have the strength nor the charisma to stop that destructive revolution of yours with just words, so I can only turn to what I know best. I will stop your violence with my violence. There's no need to glorify it as something pure and righteous, right?'_

Arcs of electric-like holy energy turned parts of the ground into glass. The sunlight of the sky was warped and twisted away to leave a dark sky. The light of the world was taken by the True Longinus and fired at Kamijou as a golden beam.

He stepped forward and pulled his right palm towards the direction of the beam as if to push it away. Both forces stalled on each other.

Kamijou winced as a weakness of his Imagine Breaker was made apparent. He cannot fully negate continuous supernatural forces as long as they regenerate faster than he can negate them.

This stalwart pillar of light is one of those types that's unfaltering in its attempts to purify the heretic rejecting its majesty. The force intensified on Kamijou's right hand. The speed of the beam rose even further.

He can almost feel his skin being peeled back, but there's something inside of him that's not letting him be pushed back even a centimeter.

**"****This is the Longinus which holds a fragment of the Christian God. Be wary."** He doesn't know who that deep voice came from.

_'__Fragment of God?' _The pain searing his hand became second to intrusive thoughts worming his way into his brain. They felt unnatural, yet natural at the same time. Those thoughts finally spilled out of from his brain and into his mouth.

"Screw that!" The pillar of light shortened. The owner of the Imagine Breaker moved forward with the beam's effects seemingly reduced. The amount of damage only increased, but Kamijou's resolved exploded when he heard what Ddraig said.

"Is that the reason you're doing all of this?! Because of some stupid God that proves you're right?!" Those harsh words were directed at the one wielding the True Longinus. Naturally, he responded.

"Of course. Having the Will of God with me proves that I'm destined to bring humanity to greater heights. You're only an obstacle in the way of that greatness!" Kamijou continued to move forward with a trembling arm.

The yellow light reached its maximum intensity. Kamijou could no longer move forward. If Cao Cao steadied his spear and kept up this continuous intensity, he will eventually win the battle.

Neither of them accounted for the sentient fragment of God within the spear. It instinctively viewed the boy before him as an anomalous entity that must be purged. The right hand roused all of its aggressiveness.

The beam of light changed directions and flew straight up into the sky from the spear's own Will. With nothing stopping the spiky-haired boy, he ran forward. Cao Cao gripped the True Longinus.

The laser split apart in the sky and came raining down in separate pieces like shards of lightning. The heavenly judgement's paths were predicted and dodged by Kamijou Touma who unwaveringly ran forward to Cao Cao.

Cao Cao took the spear and pivoted with it, thrusting it towards the direction of Kamijou's neck. One last bolt of divine wrath came breaking through the atmosphere at light speed.

Even that was dispersed away by the devilish right hand facing the sky. The spear tore through the air.

_'__God, if this world is being affected by your influence like this…then first I need to destroy that illusion!'_

Kamijou swung his right hand down.

He swung it down onto that orb of light that held the Will of God within it. The sentient fragment experienced a sense of alarm right before its meager existence was blown away.

More than that, it was completely destroyed and torn apart like a paper plane in a hurricane.

The sinister hand continued onwards and closed down on the spear itself.

That too shattered so easily. Daylight returned to the world as everyone stared at the outcome of the swift clash.

Time seemed to slow as that hand closed itself and relentlessly pushed forward towards Cao Cao's face. While he was bracing for it, an awful screeching noise made itself apparent.

Everyone looked up in the sky to see the air ripping itself apart to reveal a technicolor void. Slowly, but surely, a red horn peaked its way through the gap. An extremely large red dragon made its way to the world.

Its eyes were incoherently looking through everyone at the scene as its wings unfurled.

"Great…Red." Cao Cao whispered with an almost broken composure. Large golden eyes turned towards him, then settled on Kamijou for a good long while. He felt a bit sluggish staring at the gigantic red dragon.

An unholy roar rang out.

* * *

Something impossible happened. Kamijou Touma felt something creaking in the back of his head, or was it his right arm? Was it his eyes, or was it his whole body? It felt like something was waking up from a long hazy dream. Something hiding behind the mirror which is himself. He was backed up so close against that mirror that it almost felt like he was touching it. As descended into darkness, only a single thought was on his mind. Or is it even only his mind at this point? Whatever it is, he can still say for sure that he is Kamijou Touma no matter what.

Nothing has changed.


	5. All the Lights in the Sky

**AN: I'm back and not dead yet. Switching colleges and having a rough semester kinda did me in for a bit. Got back into writing just recently, so if this chapter's a little rough, tell me how I can fix it up. With the semester over with though, life should be a bit gentler to my schedule.**

**IllusionBreaker: Chapter served right up.**

**Ylnadiir: live fic lmao**

**Cesar Loli Poccori: Glad you're liking the story. **

**waiting: Nice name. He might meet the two or not. We'll see.**

**ikanparifish: Relax lol. I like the enthusiasm though. I hope to make future fights just as enjoyable.**

**KaiTT0: Se reunirán tarde o temprano.**

**Blindfold Snake: Nice kagepro reference. Got a new chapter served up here.**

**Fathira: Sorry that I'm gonna have to cuck you out of any answers for now. They will be answered in the future.**

**Kokuyo112: New chapter coming right up!**

**larmmason: Accel's just a big tsundere under that very chilling exterior. Getting to the interior's almost impossible though. Kamijou's always getting into trouble. It's just how he is.**

**CoupDeBird: Their battle will be legendary. I chose Kamijou mainly because of Imagine Breaker and because how well he plays off of Thor. The new power reveal in NT22R is going to be relevant. The secrets to getting back home will remain a secret for now.**

**DuckBoi: Whew. Those two actually fighting won't happen for a while if it even will happen down the line.**

**contriteleaf857: I hope to update more frequently.**

**shukkets: nice**

**Sagnik Deb: It's nice of you to say that, though one thing that isn't overrated is my trashy update rate lmao.**

** 10: ****Eu não sei como falar português. Sorry.**

**Doortolight47: A nice review you dropped. Cao Cao is a character that when I found out about, I thought I could actually put him to great use again Kamijou here. He has branching paths to develop in character-wise depending on the choices he makes and what he experiences. The two are kind of a foil to each other.**

**Sergio664: Clifford puts nobody in his eyes, so he'd do it anyway.**

**Guest: Well you're getting that reaction right now!**

**Guest: Touma's a pretty good dude, but Issei's a good dude as well. Don't sleep on him just cause he's pretty damn perverted. He defines the trope, chivalrous pervert, quite well.**

**Gen2324: Well gee, I wonder what happens if a boy punches a very hard dragon. Seriously though, who knows. It has a fleshy body, but it's tied to dreams and illusions. All I can say is read and find out later.**

**Kensei-1085: He's everyone's big brother. I won't lie and say the boob power up wasn't a bit disappointing in some ways because it was downplaying Cao Cao, but I can see why it could develop to that direction. That's why I changed it so match the narrative I was going for.**

**Ina: Kamijou's who's a brawler versus Cao Cao who actually trained. Naturally Touma couldn't beat him in a fist fight, but it wasn't as far apart as one might think. Cao Cao depended on his spear a bit too much, but he hasn't forgotten his human roots. **

**Boron: Destroying a fragment of God like that would garner a helluva lotta attention if they did find out about it.**

**Poe: Depending on the person, their reaction will vary. Who said the True Longinus was gone though...?**

**Journey to the End: Getting to the part where Kamijou has qualities that the Hero Faction lacks. There are some heroic qualities in Cao Cao that Kamijou lacks as well. It's going to be interesting writing about them taking qualities from each other.**

**Dxhologram: IB really does have a lot of downsides to it, doesn't it? Ddraig was just speaking from the Boosted Gear btw.**

**fruitspunchsamurai-987: IB's pretty damn strong, but it can be overwhelmed by a continuous force. And there are quite a few individuals in DxD who can pull that off. The stuff inside's another story though.**

**FAFNIR9029: Gracias.**

**Icewolf9879: Sorry, I got another plan for this story.**

**D.N. Works: Depends honestly. Writing an encounter with a certain someone like that is going to be a bit difficult, but I do have plans for a meeting of that caliber. **

**Qrow454: It's a large worry of mine to not respect a verse by having another verse stomp all over it. Since it is a fanfic, I'm going to have my interpretations on how things will go, which might be controversial. I promise to respect both verses in equal measures though. Undeniable stomps will be undeniable stomps.**

**Guest: Left you on that cliff for a bit too long lol. **

**TheB: True Longinus is still there, though weakened drastically. **

**CodeZerone: Reason behind Great Red's reaction to Kamijou can be figured out with some thinking. The meaning behind the last part is something I will give no hints towards whatsoever.**

**ChancePluto: Who knows what's reacting?**

**shiroryuu012: Thanks for the compliments.**

**Leo Saruca: Damn I'm cucking quite a few people out of some fights they'd like to see.**

**KurobaraIto: **

* * *

Chapter 4: Polaris_And_Canopus,Sirius_And_Venus

It was a normal day, like any other. A twilit day with the light on the horizon breaking through a moderate amount of clouds. Judging from the position of the sun, it should be late in the evening. It was on this peaceful looking day, that a pained scream sounded throughout a recognizable manse in Kyoto.

"Gaaaaaaaaaaah?!" Indeed. It was the pained yell of a spiky-haired teenager struggling to escape from bandages that are far too tightly wound in his opinion. The one applying the bandages is a plain-faced kitsune who ignores the screams thinking that the screamer was making a mountain out of a molehill.

"Wait, wait, wait! Time-out! This Kamijou is feeling just fine. You don't need to apply anything else." His attempt at negotiation with the supernatural creature was very clearly failing. Kamijou would've had better luck pleading with a locked safe to open itself.

"Yasaka-sama ordered us all to tend to her injured saviors. You're one of the saviors that must be tended to; therefore, I must bandage up your wounds. I should have done this while you were sleeping but the young lady wished for you to rest." It was a mechanical reply with the feeling of it being repeated over a hundred times.

"Like I said…! I didn't really do that much. Those others did way more than I did." The exasperation in his tone gives of the feeling that he's said this line just as many times as the kitsune said his respective line. The repetitive back-and-forth between the two finally ended much to the horror of Kamijou because it failed to fall in his favor.

The kitsune grabbed a stray, unwrapped bandage hanging from the side of the boy's forearm and pulled him in. Kamijou's nose picked up on the scent of medicine that would surely sting him with violent pain.

"…Just get it over with." He gave up his futile struggles and prepared himself for the worst. The kitsune nodded with no change in his expression as he pulled out alcohol to clean his wounds.

"Since healing magic fails on you, we must resort to human means." His words were meant to be calming, but it achieved the opposite effect. As a foil to the kitsune's mind resembling a still lake, Kamijou's mind was as if someone chucked a grenade into a pool.

"Please be gentle?" The kitsune could sense Kamijou about to run away again, so he tightened his grip on the bandages. His expression then changed for the first time since Kamijou saw him.

"I already am." He's smiling. When someone's first change in expression is a smile due to applying medicine to someone, even a stone-cold killer would feel an odd sense of coldness trail down his back.

Kamijou's mind went back to how he got here with injuries all over his body. He first arrived in this new world due to a fight with Thor going wrong. Unfortunately—or should it be expectedly—he was split up from Thor and his miniature companion, Othinus, on arrival. There were multiple events that culminated into a battle… Then a gigantic red dragon clawed its way to the battlefield out of nowhere.

The roar it let out was thick with power. It was powerful enough to shatter the sound barrier and send Kamijou flying off his feet and into unconsciousness, so he has no idea what happened afterwards. All he can recall is that a big scary dragon stared at him and roared.

Before he could let out a sigh to express his frustration with the whole mess he found himself wrapped up in, he flinched from alcohol being applied on his wounds. A stinging, burning pain reminding him of what he went through. He can chalk this event as another one in his long laundry list of events.

_'Cao Cao…'_ That man and his entourage managed to escape under the chaos somehow.

"Done." With the final tightening of his bandages, the kitsune attending him stood up, bowed, and left the room. He was a quiet, calm individual who only did what was required of him and nothing more or less.

Kamijou was left with bandages on his face, his head, his torso, his legs, and his arms. He almost looked like a mummy. He was dressed for Halloween, which already happened in the past. As he thought about the passing of time, he realized that he should probably start looking for a way to get back quickly.

"I need to meet up with those two and have Thor send us back. Index is probably starving." He shivered. "She'll bite me. She will really bite me good this time!" Kamijou stood up in a hurry to leave the room.

* * *

"How am I going to contact them? They have no phone on them and the only way they'll reach me is through my phone." He pulled out his phone with a grimace. The charge is getting low and it's getting closer to nighttime.

"What's the timezone difference between Japan and Denmark? That's in Europe, so it should be around six hours maybe?"

in the midst of his thoughts, a familiar brown-haired boy spotted him and called out to him.

"Kamijou!" Said spiky-haired boy's head looked up to see an energetic person run up to him. "How're you doing? I didn't really thank you for all your help back there dude!" He smacked his back with a grin on his face.

The same injured back that's been bandaged up.

"Ouch!" Hs eyes widened in pain. A normal person like him getting wrapped up in an incident like that would naturally be experiencing soreness. Especially because he couldn't even be healed through magical means.

"Oh, man. My bad dude! Thought you got healed up." Hyoudou pulled his hand back in a flash with an apologetic look. In the brunette's defense, he had no idea that Kamijou's wounds were still relevant.

"Don't worry about it. I got involved in this mess, so this was to be expected." Kamijou didn't blame the other boy. With magic going around, anyone else would think that he'd be all healed up. Too bad for him, his right hand prevents most healing spells.

After the apologies were sorted out, the two just sort of stared at each other in an awkward manner until Issei spoke up.

"Oh, that's right. Azazel-sensei and the rest were waiting for you to wake up, so we could all talk about what happened together." Touma tilted his head.

"Who?" Kamijou did meet Hyoudou's group, but he never figured out everybody's names. The boy realized this and decided to elaborate on everyone's identities.

"He's the middle-aged guy with black hair and blonde bangs. Really cool dude!" A thumbs up. "I'm Hyoudou Issei by the way. The pretty boy is Kiba, and... I'll just introduce you to the others as we meet them." He showed off a grin full of boyish charm.

"Alright," Kamijou nodded. "Could you lead the way? I kinda don't know my way around this place that well." The only times he's been here was when he was drunk, which he doesn't remember well, and when he was imprisoned. He did spend a single day here as well, but that wasn't enough for him the memorize the layout of the building.

Hyoudou instantly accepted the other boy's proposal.

"Don't worry. I'll show you the way. There's a special tour for the future if you're interested though." The brunette gave a lecherous grin that had devious plans behind it. There was something in those words that unnerved Kamijou. Almost like he met a kindred spirit of Aogami and Tsuchimikado.

"Sure…" Kamijou gave a cautious response and followed Hyoudou. A quiet walk is unsuitable for a hot-blooded person like Hyoudou though, so he decided to kick up a conversation.

"So, what type of girls do you like?"

"Huh?"

"Come on, you know what I mean. Big breasts, small breasts, medium breasts, large breasts, huge breasts..."

"You're just talking about breasts." Kamijou interrupted the boys tirade on womens' chests. Hyoudou turned around while still walking with a confused expression, like he didn't understand what the other boy was getting at.

"But breasts are the best part about girls." His face took on a perverted countenance as he slipped into a daydream. "Those soft, squishy spheres of holy temptation blessing the world of man…" He was moving his hands and fingers like he was grasping those squishy orbs in his mind.

"I'm sorry but you're wrong." Kamijou had to reject this boy's religion, for he had a belief even stronger than his that ignored things like breasts.

"What…!" Hyoudou had to hear the reasoning that led him to that belief. "What is the best part about a woman then. Go on and tell me!" Kamijou smirked triumphantly, for he believed to have the ultimate answer.

"The best part about a woman is their archetype, Hyoudou." With no hesitation, he delivered the words that carried what he believed to be the ultimate truth. The breast-fetishist was stunned in a manner befitting those who are ignorant of what really matters. He could only respond in a single way.

"Huh?"

Kamijou was fired up now. Someone who didn't know anything about reality, could now be enlightened. He pointed straight at Hyoudou.

"For example! Take a look at Onee-sans! Those bodacious, gentle women who are the type that care for you. You understand that wonderful part of them, right?" Hyoudou nodded, still not getting the point. "Now, combine that with a dorm manager! The types that are stern yet care for you as well."

"Wait it couldn't be!" Hyoudou was finally understanding. Touma clenched his fist and held it close to his heart with fire in his eyes.

"That's right! You get Dorm Manager Onee-sans! The stern, yet gentle women who will take care of you! The two powerful character types that combine to create the ultimate type. The personality is perfect. It has no weaknesses and all the strengths." Kamijou threw out those powerful, spirited words that shook the very core of Issei. His next words though crashed into the brunette's mind like a wave.

"It is superior to the shallow ideals of breast-men!" Those words echoed through Hyoudou's mind.

All of a sudden, his gaze grew rigid and his fighting spirit was ignited to the max. "Breasts are…" He took a deep breath and delivered words sharper than any spear.

"Breasts cross the boundaries of archetypes! Where you single out girls by their character types and decide who's the best from them, we breast-men accept all manners of breasts no matter the shape or size. We revel in tits!" His brown eyes were devoid of any doubts or hesitation.

The two would not be budged from their mindset, so they did battle with their beliefs.

"Breasts are the core of motherhood, representing the fount of life and from which it springs forth! They are the core of the universe!" It should be obvious who said these words.

"Personalities are the representation of maturity and development of the mind! They are the core of a person, which is what really matters here!" Noting the speaker of these words is also pointless.

The two of them started butting heads as they shared their respective beliefs. Neither of the two are wrong and neither of the two will bow down here. They feel the need to convince the other that their way is the true way.

Inside Hyoudou's left arm, a certain dragon sighed.

"Breasts!" Hyoudou shouted!

"Archetypes!" Kamijou yelled!

"Ass!" The two weren't ready to back down, but a new challenger appeared. The dark horse that spoke of the bottom of a woman. The soft, yet firm buttocks that many men wish to grasp once in their life.

"Though you may be my sensei, this is one battlefield I cannot back down from." Hyoudou turned towards the voice he recognized. It was the leader of the fallen angels, Azazel, who donned a surprisingly serious face himself.

"Wait you're that Azazel-sensei?" Kamijou's innocent question relaxed the flaming hot fires of passion into a more mild atmosphere.

"Yep, that's right. I was waiting for you two enter the meeting room, but it was taking a bit. I decided to go look for you myself and what I found was an interesting conversation indeed." He nodded to himself with a smile with the two high schoolers looking bashful.

"No need to wear that sort of expression. The passions burning within your hearts touched me greatly." The leader of the Grigori placed his hands on their shoulders and gave off smile filled with pride.

"It fills me with joy to see two people descending on the path of debauchery like this." Issei grinned, feeling the acknowledgment of his sensei while Kamijou's complexion took on a more pale hue.

_'No, no, no! I got too caught up in his pace and now I'm becoming more and more like the rest of the Delta Force! I can't let this go on.'_

"Uh, yeah. We should probably get to that meeting room?" He subtly pleaded for a change in topic to destroy anything that can render his personality into what it was previously.

"Yes you're right. Let's march onwards, my fellow students!"

"Yes Azazel-sensei!"

"I'm not your student though?!"

Hyoudou cheerfully followed with Kamijou not too far behind. The brunette recalled something that bothered him a bit though. "Weren't you a breast-man instead of an ass-man though?" That was the thing that confused him.

"Oh, that? I just wanted to play the part of a contrarian for a little. I could never be a true ass-man." The fallen angel smirked. "At least not with the existence of Gabriel's tits." He exuded confidence in that statement with Hyoudou psyched up about something.

"Woah, her breasts are that great? I can't wait to see them!" Kamijou sighed as they inched closer towards the meeting room. He can't say that he has zero curiosity of this Gabriel though. He's a normal high schooler with normal desires.

"I'm surrounded by perverts," he muttered to himself, his voice low enough so no one could hear it. The hypocrisy in that statement was so obvious that if the other two heard it, they probably would've stared at him until he realized his folly.

* * *

"Alright, let's get this show on the road." The fallen angel opened the sliding door with a multitude of individuals already inside. Those individuals being Yasaka, Sun Wukong, Serafall Leviathan, and the rest of Hyoudou Issei's comrades. They all wore serious looks on their faces as they waited for everyone to arrive.

With Azazel, Hyoudou, and Kamijou entering the room, a conversation befitting the mood can finally begin. Everyone sat down in the remaining seats waiting for someone to break the ice. That someone ended up being Yasaka.

"First I must thank all of you for assisting us with the recent problem. We cannot repay you enough for your efforts." She lightly bowed her head to convey the depths of her gratitude.

"As your allies, it was only proper for us to provide assistance." Serafall gave a diplomatically measured response. "Though there was an individual that wasn't initially a part of our entourage."

Naturally she was referring to Kamijou Touma. "Eh? No, it was nothing! I was just there at the right place in time is all." He nervously scratched the back of his head and laughed.

"Please don't downplay your efforts. Kunou told me about how instrumental you were in protecting her and I received information from Genshirou-kun on how you rescued me." She minutely bowed her head towards the boy.

"Well…" He couldn't just reject someone's heartfelt thanks like that. "…Your welcome." The exchange of platitudes took up meaningless time, which was why a short individual wearing shades interrupted.

"This isn't what we're here for." That was Sun Wukong. Someone who is usually a playful person; however, that cheerful persona of his isn't anywhere to be seen. The reason for this was due to an abnormal occurrence.

"What exactly caused Great Red to appear?" The somber mood that was about to be lifted returned. This was the reason behind everyone's grave countenance. Touma was completely in the dark in this. _'Great Red? Was it that dragon?'_ He didn't say anything that might have given away his ignorance on the matter and just kept quiet to see if his curiosity would be sated by an answer from somebody else.

"That dragon was planned by the Hero Faction. Harnessing Yasaka's power and using it to call that dragon was the reason why it showed up." Azazel deduced the cause from prior information.

Touma decided to join in. "So, what happened when it showed up?" They all looked at him with piercing gazes, making him sweat a bit. "I mean I was knocked out almost instantly, so I don't know what really happened."

"We can take the time to go over known information to see if we missed anything." Azazel grunted and nodded to himself. "First off, the moment it roared was when the barrier shattered. It nearly revealed the supernatural to everyone in Kyoto." Nearly every single person in the room knew the consequences of that action bringing such a severe result.

"All the stragglers came and rounded themselves up with Cao Cao's group. It would've been a perfect time to capture them all had Great Red not proved to be the biggest problem at that very moment in time." He sighed in an unsatisfied manner.

"We had no choice but to quickly reapply the barrier as fast as possible while making it strong enough to at least contain that beast's presence. Annoyingly enough, that's what gave the Hero Faction the opportunity to escape. Dimension Lost made use of the hole Great Red tore to get here to escape. Crafty bastards."

He praised them and disparaged them in a single motion. As a researcher, Azazel knew the risks of navigating the dimensional gap, but with the help of the strongest defensive Longinus, they were able to pass through without harm.

"Then..." He paused for a bit. "I think it tried to attack you." He was staring straight at Kamijou. The boy in question looked a bit surprised at that, but from what he recalled, that gigantic dragon was staring straight at him before roaring.

"It's all good though because dear old Issei got in front of your body to protect you. Such a heartwarming friendship." Kamijou looked at the brunette with gratitude in his eyes.

"The dragon pulled off after inching closer for some reason. It was pretty weird. Did you have something on you that warranted this reaction?" The dissecting stare was sending a chill down the boy's spine.

"Azazel," Serafall cut in. "Was Yasaka the sole reason behind Great Red's appearance?" She steepled her hands waiting for the person with the most experience in these kinds of incidents to respond. The fallen angel leaned back in his chair while adopting a thinking posture. He put the matter of Great Red's reaction to Kamijou aside for now.

"From a certain point of view, it can be said that an Ultimate-class being harnessing the natural power of the Earth's leylines can generate enough power to at least rouse the interest of a being like Great Red…"

"But?" Azazel sighed.

"…But based on what we know about his disposition, if it doesn't reach his power, he won't care. And there is no being on Earth that reaches his power." He scratched his head and smiled in joyous confusion. "What a conundrum we found ourselves in."

The words seem to be representing how annoyed he is at this situation, yet his heart is feeling anything but that. A new interesting subject about the mind of Great Red and what could've summoned him.

On a different side of the table, Issei and his friends were talking about what the group leaders are discussing when Issei's Boosted Gear manifested itself.

**"I think I know what called Great Red."** A strong, baritone voice emanated from the crimson gauntlet with the green jewel representing an eye flashing. Suddenly, everyone's attention was called towards it as Issei rose it to chest level in confusion.

"Really Ddraig?" The brunette asked the question that was on everyone's mind. The green jewel flashed rapidly.

**"Inside the True Longinus was a fragment of the Christian God himself. Calling upon that power was mostly likely the reason for Great Red's appearance."** Everyone went into deep thought from that theory.

Meanwhile Kamijou was sitting there in a strange state. He didn't really know if he should actually be here or not. A state where he feels like he should both leave and stay at the same time.

In short, he was stuck in an awkward position like usual. "Uh, am I still needed here?" He was preparing to stand up and leave the room with the oppressive atmosphere.

**"Wait, boy. I have a question for you."** Ddraig was the one who called out to him before he had the chance to leave. It was in a tone that was more demanding than anything. Kamijou turned towards Issei's direction with a bad feeling in his gut.

Like whatever the gauntlet was going to say, he was going to be dragged into something very troublesome. "What?" he asked in a mildly rude way.

**"How were you capable of destroying that very same fragment?!"** Words that shocked the entire room. Not even the imprisoned dragon could believe it when he sensed it. He thought it was just his senses playing tricks on him or some strange illusion. He couldn't deny the truth though.

Kamijou Touma blew away the fragment of the Christian God in a comparable manner to swatting a fly with one's bare hand.

The one who was the most shocked at those words was Azazel. The arm that was supporting his head lost its strength as his head slammed into the table. He brought it back up at lightning speeds.

As a fallen angel who was formerly a top-ranked angel that served under god and as one who participated in the war that led to God's death, he knew firsthand the power of the God of the Bible. It was the reason why he couldn't take those words without a shadow of a doubt.

"Hold on a second Red Dragon Emperor. Are you sure that was what you sensed? Even as a fragment, destroying something like that should be almost impossible." His whole mind was thrown into disarray at the implications of his words.

Like everyone else, his gaze slowly turned towards Kamijou in an analyzing manner that sent shivers down the boy's spine. The boy tried to remember if he actually destroyed anything like that.

_'Wait hold on. That sound just before I hit the spear… That was it, wasn't it?!' _He realized that's exactly what he did. That thing he slammed his hand into had to be the fragment everyone is referring to.

"I don't mean to be rude or anything, but you don't really look that strong. As a matter of fact I can't really sense any power from you at all." Serafall was quick to try to disprove what Ddraig sensed.

"That's right! This Kamijou-san here isn't that strong at all! What the gauntlet is saying doesn't really make any sense. I just helped out a little and did my best like everyone did. Hahaha..." The way he laughed to throw suspicion off himself was what made him more suspicious. The fact that he was foolish enough that he thought could get away from everyone without being peered into like a zoo animal was the real misfortune.

"Tell us what happened and we can throw in a favor for you." Serafall cut right through the paltry deception and tried to entice the boy with a favor.

Yasaka was about to open her mouth, but Serafall shot her a strange look. They both knew that Yasaka was going to attempt to pay the boy back, but it seems Kamijou didn't really expect a reward in exchange.

Serafall can use this personality of his to extract more information from him. Fortunately for her, it seemed to have worked like a charm as he sat back down.

"Well, I guess it can't hurt. I…might've hit something before I hit the spear, which may have been that fragment of God you guys are talking about." They received confirmation that it was Kamijou who destroyed it. The shock the received was too great to be described.

Almost like seeing a building filled with people exploding out of nowhere. You normally won't feel anything until the shock sets in after a while. That's basically how everyone is feeling currently.

What Kamijou said adds onto the theory that the same fragment was what hit Great Red's senses, but destroying it was what actually made him check out the situation.

"Did I screw up by doing that? If I did, then I'll make up for it somehow." He clenched his right hand. It's not the first time he had to clean up a mess of his own making.

Azazel was the one who shook his head. "Don't worry. He was already gone to begin with, so you don't need to repay anyone anything." Kamijou did feel a bit of relief when they denied his need to fix whatever mess he caused.

"Can I cash in that favor now?" Kamijou asked bashfully. He scratched the back of his head in consternation wondering if his favor was okay, or if it was the most efficient use of it. He shook his head and erased all of his doubts immediately.

"What kind of favor?" Yasaka cut in. If it was something that required an egregious use of resources, then that would be a call for some hesitation, but if it was something minor, then it's absolutely doable.

"I need help searching for some friends of mine. We got separated in the middle of a fight, which was how I got here. From Tokyo to Kyoto was something I didn't expect and I'm sure that prick is feeling just peachy." Kamijou grumbled.

His source of agitation was naturally Thor who caused this mess. He can even hear the androgynous man laughing in his head, adding to his annoyance.

"A simple matter. I'll have my fellow subordinates be on the lookout for your companions. Could you give a description of them?" Yasaka kindly obliged the undemanding request that seemed straightforward.

"Thor is a guy with long, blonde hair and blue eyes. He's a troublemaker of the highest order, so watch out for him if he's in the mood to cause a mess. The other's a girl named Othinus who's only fifteen centimeters tall and also has blonde hair. She's the high-maintenance one."

A troublemaker and someone who's high-maintenance.

Kamijou had no hesitation in pointing out their bad qualities while they weren't here. He was free to badmouth them like a complete delinquent. 'It felt good to get that off my chest.'

The ones listening to his description of them were thrown off by the very first name. They know a Thor. He's an extremely powerful god who doesn't resemble the person Kamijou gave a description of, so they just filed that under a coincidence.

The other description gave pause to those who have deeper knowledge about Norse mythology. The name Othinus is another way to refer to the chief god, Odin.

"Say, do these two have ties to Norse?" Azazel questioned.

"Yep." Kamijou gave a one-word answer. He didn't realize the importance of the question, so he just answered it without thinking twice.

"I see... Well, we'll help you out as well if we have any people to spare." Serafall gave a smile and stood up. The rest of the leaders followed and then everyone else stood up shortly after. Kamijou sighed.

"Wonder how those two are doing?" He muttered to himself. He feels a bit worried about the two of them. He has a pretty good idea about how much trouble Thor can get in and along with Othinus, the troubles might be multiplied.

"Hey, Kamijou. Wanna hang out with us?" Issei called out to him as he and his group were leaving the door. Kamijou looked up to see curious eyes on him.

"I'll do it later." He had some tumultuous thoughts on his mind. He wouldn't want to bring the joyful mood of their group down with his attitude so he gave a halfhearted promise that he'd join them a bit later.

* * *

"Achoo!" Two blonde's sneezed in synch. "Haha, sounds like Kamijou-chan's talking about us. He must be itching to finish our interrupted fight as much as I am." Thor's emotions spiked upwards with Othinus sneering at him in disbelief.

"Is that really what you think? He's probably moping about how much of a pain you are." She was right, but that also means he was moping about her as well. Something that she egotistically didn't focus on.

Unfortunately for her though, Thor had no qualms in bringing that fact up. "That also means he's talking trash about you as well. Maybe he's getting tired of you?" Thor's grin had a tinge of malice in it.

These two individuals had a hard time getting along back when they were on the same side. Now that the two have been broken up by past events, Thor really has no reason to be around her.

Though he can't just bury her in the snow. Kamijou would never forgive him for it. _'Though that'd be an interesting battle on its own. Kamijou-chan fighting against me in vengeance, finally giving me everything he's got and more.' _

He mulled on that idea for just a moment before tossing it into the figurative trash bin. That way of enticing Kamijou to fight is not his style. He may be a fight-happy crazy bastard that endangers everyone around him, but he's not a monster embodying a singular craving to fight with his full power against opponents using their full power.

"So, where are you going?" Othinus questioned the sudden direction Thor turned to.

"Well, we both noticed those winged people looking like the spitting image of Valkyries, right? Getting some information from those types of locals would be the perfect source to understand this new world. Unless you have a problem?"

"No problem. Just don't start a fight."

"Yeah, yeah, you're no longer my boss. I'll do what I please how I please, whenever I please. You can't stop me anymore and you're also stuck with me because of that form of yours."

While the two were casually chatting with bitterness on both sides, Thor was scaling a mountain. There wasn't a straight path to where the people he saw flew off, so he had to manually use his hands to do some old-fashioned rock climbing.

The jagged rocks threatened to scrape the skin off his hands as he tightly pulled himself up repeatedly. After what seemed like an eternity, he reached a clearing where he could get his legs up to stand.

"Whew! That took quite the bit of effort." He made a show of wiping the sweat off his brow as he took in his surroundings. "Now where did those guys go? He racked his mind for any magic spell to trace anyone he's looking for.

"No dice. I'd need a piece of something they left if I were to do that." He clicked his tongue and sighed. It looked like his trip was about to be a waste of time, but he didn't feel like going back down the mountain after exhausting a mountainous amount of effort climbing.

"You got any ideas?" He was obviously referring to the magic god currently at the size of a doll hanging outside of his pocket. From that pocket she pulled something out.

"This should be useful." Thor's eyes widened in glee as he picked the feather from her hands. He held it straight up in the sky.

"May Thor Hallow," he lazily chanted. The feather drank from his well of magic before slipping from his hands. It seemed to sway in the wind before darting sharply towards the right. Thor tracked it with his eyes before running after it in an excited hurry. His efforts won't be for nothing it seems.

"So, what do you make of that feather?" Thor questioned his former superior who is still a superior to him in magical knowledge. Though they're in a different world where that knowledge may not apply one-to-one, Thor isn't foolish enough to let his disdain of her get in the way of his curiosity.

"Feathers are associated with winged creatures. The idea of humans possessing wings dates back to Hinduism with the Garuda. Since the wings are white, we can narrow it down to a western interpretation, such as angels or Valkyries. Judging by the fact that we are in the Scandinavian region, I'm led to believe that you're tracking down a Valkyrie."

"Listen, I'm not Kamijou-chan okay? You don't need to give me an essay on something. Just keep it succinct before I lose my mind and throw you, okay?" The long answer he received almost made him regret asking Othinus. He knew that she had a habit of overexplaining things, but even that was too much for him.

The two were silent as Thor ran after the feather, which then sunk to the ground. Where it stopped was a pile a feathers leading towards a collapsed, bloody person.

Her eyes barely opened to a half-lidded state when she sensed someone approaching. She couldn't even bring herself into a battle-ready state. Her body was absolutely mangled with one of her wings dangling from her shoulder blades.

The two outsiders looked onwards with all the emotional range of a distant stranger. "What happened here?" Othinus narrowed her eyes at the scene. The woman was obviously attacked, but by whom is the real question.

"Ah…" She tried to speak but all that came up was driblets of blood spilling from her throat.

"That's no good. She's done for." Thor let out a melancholy sigh at the Valkyrie's tragic sight. Against her fate to merely die in the show with no one around, she struggled to relay at least something that proved she was alive in this moment.

"Please." She reached out a hand with the remnants that remained. "My sisters…!" That was it. Her breathing stopped, her heart ceased beating, and all brain activity went to zero. She was well and truly dead at that point after going beyond the limits of her mortal body.

"Hm, well that's that!" Thor brought his hands together which created a popping noise. He then cracked his fingers and brought his hands below the dead woman's body. He lifted her up in a princess carry.

"What are—" Othinus stopped herself once she got a proper look at Thor's expression. He was smiling yes, but his eyes were a bit strange. A side of him that she hasn't seen before.

"Isn't it obvious? There's a fight to be had, so I'm hunting down the ones who put this Valkyrie in this sorry state. They'd ought to be strong." He could already hear the sounds of battle as he walked forward with a corpse in his arms.

It seems she wasn't blown far away from the battle. It was a short distance that only required a minuscule amount of walking to reach the clearing where combat is occurring.

* * *

"How fortunate." Thor was filled with jubilation. The grin that showed teeth was fixed in an upwards position. Blue eyes glinted in the frosty weather as the crunching of his shoes forced the opponents he suddenly found to gaze in his direction.

Their appearances resembled that of devils. Violet, rubbery wings of a bat and the utter inhuman presence wafting off their bodies. Six such creatures were locked into combat with two moderately injured Valkyries similar to the one in Thor's arms.

"Sister!" One of them with short hair screamed out with a shrill voice. It was so loud, Thor winced from the sheer volume of it. The one who seemed to be the leader of the devils seemed to have gotten the picture though. The way he was dressed with glittering jewelry hanging off his neck led Thor to believe that he was some pompous guy who just got a promotion to lead his troops.

"Oh… Ahahahaha! This scene is ripe with delectable tragedy." Opening his mouth revealed even more inhuman traits. The teeth of a shark were in full view, befitting the appearance of a heartless, bloodthirsty devil.

"So that's where she wandered off after I blasted her?" He had his eyes covered with a single hand as he looked skywards and roared laughter. The remaining Valkyries seemed to have been struck dumb by what they saw.

"No… It can't be true…" Thor and Othinus immediately felt like intruders, so the taller blond did what he did best and acted like an ice breaker.

He dropped the corpse from his arms like a burdensome weight that was straining a person's arms too long. "Gonna need both my hands free for this," Thor murmured to himself.

"Oi, trash." A lazy voice reached Thor's ears as he perked up to the person who called him out. "Take the other trash and jump off the mountain to your death. Don't feel like dealing with you."

"You don't flap your wings to fly?" Thor completely ignored his words and observed his enemy.

"Didn't you hear me? I said go off yourself, human scum!" His unbounded arrogance conveyed the feeling of being above everything. Fitting words for a devil whose sin is Pride itself.

Thor looked over to the Valkyries who were telling him to run with their eyes. They couldn't sustain themselves in the sky any longer, so they dropped down to the ground with a heavy thud.

"You're telling me to do something that would get me out of a fight? Do you really think I would even consider that? Did you come out of your mother with a squished head you piece of shit?" Thor grinned as he spewed out poisonous words.

"Eliminate him!" He snarled and ordered his subordinates possessing lifeless eyes. Elemental magic was being formed in their hands as they all aimed at the blond magician.

"Keeping yourselves afloat by magic… You guys really are retarded! Oh, demons carrying this magic user, promptly let go!" He chanted a spell from his original world. Something that the denizens of this world have no immediate answer to.

"Wha—" The words of the leader was immediately silenced as he felt gravity act upon his body and bring him down to the summit of the mountain. He and his subordinates crashed to the ground with a roaring impact. They lost concentration over their magic.

The anti-flight spell from his world. A very famous spell that basically every magician knows. "Unexpected that St. Peter's Interception Spell would have some use here," Othinus noted.

The strength of their bodies were fortunately enough to bear the weight of the fall, but the leader was furious from being humiliated like that. "You son of a bitch!" He tried to take flight again, but found himself unable to take flight again. He previously used magic to sustain his flight, but he can no longer channel it that way for some reason. One look at his grinning opponent was almost enough to send him stumbling into a spiral of rage.

"Okay, that's fine. Use your tricks… Show me how you'll deal with this!" The devil sent a dreadful orb accompanied by sweltering flames. In response, Thor grinned, finally experiencing a familiar territory.

"That's what I'm talking about!" His fingers were fully outstretched with blades made of pure plasma arcing from the tips. He brought both of his hands in the middle of the orb to test its strength and an explosion rang out from the top of the mountain.

The weight of the sound carried itself all the way down to the base of the tall mountain. Othinus was forced to tightly grip Thor's pocket to not get sent flying out of it.

"Hehe!" Thor was facing down that powerful magic with his plasma blades. His feet dug into the ground and the electricity was flaking off, but with an eerie laughter, he immediately strengthened his spell and chopped through the fearsome spell with jubilation on his eyes.

The remnants of the spell flew off in the distance as Thor took a low stance. His left arm was left hanging low with right arm at chest level.

"Surround him and bombard him with spells!" The leader called out a snap judgement based on how he saw Thor handle his spell. He won't lie and say that he can easily handle the human magician. His pride isn't so overpowering that he embodies it.

That was probably the reason behind his pathetic showing. "Was that really your full power? Seems like your subordinates won't be doing anything for me either." Thor disparaged his tactic and jumped right into the fray of the artillery barrage.

He found a narrow opening through the large net of spells. He grinned and expanded that opening by slicing right through an icicle to fit his whole body through. "One!" He chopped through a single devil. He was a bit surprised how they made not a single noise, but he jumped to the side to avoid another powerful spell from the leader devil.

Thor smirked at his frothing rage as he went to the next devil. He was systematically taking out each of his subordinates one by one to maximize his anger. He danced through the small zone of combat like a master of war.

"Two." Another fell to the Arc Fusion Blades.

"Three." One after the other...

"Four." ...They couldn't handle Gremlin's second strongest.

"Five!" They were all taken out, leaving only the remaining leader.

"Well? Someone like you definitely has something to say before they get offed. Ain't that right, trash?" Thor mocked him. Veins were beginning to show and crease his forehead. His fists were clenched so tightly that the cracking of bones were audible.

"Fine then!" He grasped something in the shape of a purple snake and downed it immediately. A sudden boost of power graced his senses and along with it, his consciousness was drowned out.

The only thing piloting his body was a desire to prove his pride wasn't pathetic by erasing everything in front of him. His body contorted into a truly inhuman shape, like he became warped inside out.

Thor whistled in an approving manner. "You took some more power to get stronger. I like that!" With the way his grin grew wider, one could assume that he was getting too into the battle.

"You should watch out. His power increased drastically from whatever he ingested." He received a warning from the last person he expected to care about his being.

"That's a surprise. It almost sounds like you're worried about me. Did good ol' Kamijou-chan change the big scary Othinus that much? Don't worry though; this is something I really needed!"

With that shout he dashed to the warped devil. He swung his left hand upwards to the right in order to cleave his foe in twain. Much to his shock and joy, his transformed devil managed to stop it with his meaty forearm. The blade bit into his arm, but stopped at the bone.

"It doesn't… hUUUURT!" Thor's battle lust was doused from hearing his opponent speak. His consciousness was barely active, so he was fighting something akin to a rabid beast more than anything.

He let out a powerful sigh, displaying his irritation right in front of the strong being.

"Guys who fight like that are boring and so easy to take down. What a damn disappointment!" The creature blew back Thor a reasonable distance with his jaw becoming unhinged. The corrosive drool was seeping to the ground, melting the snow with its acidic properties.

A colossal amount of magical power gathered on his left palm in the shape of a hexagon. With a wordless scream, the devil launched the spell filled with all of the power in his body in the shape of a laser.

Thor charged straight at the laser with his right hand getting ready to intercept it. "What are you doing?!" He heard the reasonable question screamed at him, but he ignored it.

_'I'll take a page out of your book!'_ With that thought, he slammed his arc-blades into the path of the laser and redirected it slightly above his head. With the trajectory changed to the sky, it forcefully and violently split apart the clouds.

Thor's right arm was blown off from the sheer stress of the act. The blood spatter reached his cheek as he undauntedly continued forward with a missing limb. He shortened the distance instantly by having the plasma blades under his feet explosively expand.

Thus, he shattered the devil's jaw with a kick delivered at supersonic speeds. His body was sent flying into the sky.

"_Times ten._" The blades on the fingers of his remaining hand lengthened from 2 meters to 20 meters. The power charged in those blades increased as well. He swung upwards and with force strong enough to dislocate his shoulder, which parted the devil into four pieces in the midst of his sudden flight.

He came down in a shower of gore and separated body parts. Thor sighed at the unfortunate turn of the fight.

"It was a nice six-on-one battle that turned into an even better one-on-one. He gained an increase in power and things were looking up till he conveniently started to go mad and sap away the fun. As I thought, I can only get a real satisfaction from fighting Kamijou-chan." Othinus quietly listened to Thor's melancholy soliloquy.

"Ah, well that's done now. What to do about them?" He looked over to the two unconscious Valkyries with very little interest in his pupils. He supposes he did save them in a way so it would be weird to just leave them without saying anything.

Plus they'd be able to provide more in-depth information about this world then if he were to go hunting randomly for it himself.

"Also…" He turned to the corpses of the boss's subordinates. The way they didn't say a word and had no change of expression even until death was downright strange. He can't lie and say that didn't draw out his curiosity.

"Your arm." Othinus finally spoke up. The long-haired blond man was still losing blood, but he didn't look like it bothered him. He traced the surroundings until he located his arm that was sinking into the snow.

"Almost forgot about that." He reached and grabbed it before slamming the point at which it was chopped off at the stump. He twisted it until the bones, nerves, and muscles aligned and let his magic do the rest.

The arm was reconnected at the point from where it was severed. He gave his arm a few test movements to make sure it was working properly with no deviations then walked over to the two Valkyries and tried shaking them awake.

"That's pointless. Their injuries and the stress are going to leave them out for possibly a few hours." Othinus leapt out of his pocket to analyze the Valkyries. She was a magic god representing Norse mythology, so seeing these reminded her of nostalgic times.

Thor merely looked into the starry sky. His stretched out his right arm as if to reach those stars. Though it wouldn't be false to say that's what he wants to do.

_'I want to reach the stars above and go even beyond that. You better keep up with me!' _

Gaining power for power's sake or gaining power to save others. Even if that contradiction is never resolved, Thor will still continue to accumulate power no matter what.

* * *

Kamijou Touma was sitting out on an engawa. He opened the sliding door to sit on the wooden porch so he could collect his thoughts. "I really can't keep calm being thrown in a foreign place like this."

The boy's sense of balance was thrown off immensely, yet the core that led him to saving others hasn't changed. He sighed.

"What's a youngin' like you sighing for? Don't you know the saying that a little happiness escapes with every sigh?" Kamijou looked to his side in surprise. He didn't notice a short old man sit beside him. _'What was his name again?'_ Kamijou tried to recall his name, but no dice.

"I'm Sun Wukong." Like he read the spiky-haired teenager's mind, he responded with his name once more. "So, would you care enlightening this old man what seems to be causing you to let loose your happiness?" Kamijou felt at ease with the gentle smile directed at him. He couldn't see the eyes the carried the vicissitudes of life, but he can tell that this old man was wise.

"Well, I've been thrown into many incidents like this. Sometimes though, I think I just want to stop for a while. Saving people and protecting their smiles is nice and all, but a break would be nice as well."

"Then why not take a small vacation? What seems to be the problem?" Kamijou frowned as he tried to think of a response.

"I... I can't help but want to save others to say the least. Because of that, I keep seeing new amazing events." He sighed as he let out a simple truth close to his heart. "I don't desire these crazy adventures. All I want is a normal life where I can go to school, hang out with friends, and return home to relax. I want to experience peaceful, gentle days for an eternity."

The sole desire that belongs to Kamijou Touma.

The Great Victorious Fighting Buddha took a long drag of his pipe before blowing out smoke.

"You understand what you want. Extreme selflessness is not a virtue and kindness to oneself is a kindness too. I've met people like you that had their original desires twisted through acts of heroism. Remember that heroes rarely meet a good end. Fate and luck are never kind to people like you, so cherish your peaceful days and remember to take frequent vacations."

Kamijou turned towards him with a strange smile on his face. "Speaking from experience?" The Monkey King shook his head.

"I'm not a hero." The boy turned from him and looked forward into the forest with tired eyes. He fulfilled his promise to talk with Hyoudou and his friends, but the only one he managed to talk with was Hyoudou himself. The rest of his pals were off doing their own thing, so they picked up on their previous conversation.

Kamijou pulled out his phone to check the time. 4:00 a.m. greeted him. His eyes widened in supreme shock that it got that late. He then turned it back off to save the battery.

"Yeah, fun stuff isn't all that fun." He stated strongly.

"Though I say that, I feel like those troublesome adventures aren't all that bad," he whispered to himself. Sun Wukong barely heard that, but it unsettled him just a little bit for some reason. There was an odd light in Kamijou's eyes that was disconcerting.

He stood up and prepared to leave. "It would behoove you to keep my words in mind. Embracing normality is fine for young brats like you. Anyway, I have to go pick up another troublesome brat. A big green one." He left on that note with the wind obscuring Kamijou's vision from him.

The one remaining looked up at the starry sky and stretched out his right hand as if to grasp the very stars.

"These lights are good."


	6. Cracked Normality

**AN: Hey yo what's popping guys. I was bullied into dropping this chapter by a discord devil. It's on the short side because one chapter grew too long, so I decided to just split it. If there's any errors, let me know, so I can just go and fix them up.**

**D.N. Works: Took liberties with his character and set up a small subplot like this for future events. Thor is thriving here though.**

**Sagnik Deb: I've accepted that my update rate is trash by now.**

**Nam: It could happen in the future. Maybe. Possibly. **

**Guest: I'm sorry, but I'm shit at update speeds.**

**Shukkets: Thanks.**

**CoupDeBird: GR's little event was special and unique for a reason you might not even be expecting. Hope you enjoy the twists and turns I'll be taking this through.**

**IllusionBreaker: I appreciate the praise, though this one might not be as good as the others.**

**Guest: Sooner or later. Probably later.**

**Vietnamese Guy: He's completely fine. I promise.**

**Blindfold Snake: ****Oof, no plotlines are getting resolved or figured out that quickly.**

**Guest: There's a possibility.**

**ChancePluto: Never dead. Just slow like a turtle.**

**Takedo: I appreciate the tips. I'll make sure to go over stuff with a finer eye in the future. Let me know if there are anymore problems please.**

**Guest: Refer to Ylnadiir's review.**

**Icewolf: Wholesome sibling relationship.**

**Cheesecake: You had a lot to comment on, which leads me to believe you liked the chapter. There's a lot of future stuff I got planned, especially with Vali being traumatizing for poor old Kamijou. Still got to set up more stuff though.**

**Cesar: Not yet.**

**Guest: Thanks.**

**unclecreepy16: You'll get some more...eventually.**

**Ylnadiir: You're a necessary reviewer.**

**Healthcare: He's pretty based.**

**Kamisato: Yeah, I gotchu fam.**

**SoftItalics: Nah, I gotta do it even if I have to force myself. Thanks for the appreciation though.**

* * *

Chapter 5: All_Good_Stars

"…Huh?" Eyes opened with a groggy voice slipping from Kamijou Touma's mouth. "When did I fall asleep?" His position was horizontal with his eyes looking outwards past the engawa he laid on. His position's only oddity was the fact that he didn't turn too much to the left and crash his head onto the ground. An unlucky event like that should've been the norm and expected, but it seems the world decided to be nice to his body for some reason.

"Oh." Slowly rubbing his eyes and engaging with the reality his eyes greeted him with, he acknowledged a blanket draped across his body that was falling in tune with his body getting up. He picked it up while putting his legs underneath his body and standing up.

"I should give this back to whoever lent it to me." He yawned shortly after saying that. Blood pumped through his body with the normal force of an awake person, pushing the remaining traces of sleepiness out of his system.

Kamijou's eyes glanced at the blanket in his hands for a little bit longer and attempted to match its features with anyone he knows in this world.

"It probably belongs to Kunou." He nodded to himself after making that decisive judgement. "The cutesy aesthetic and the orange color suits her." Now he just needs to find her in the maze of a manse he's currently in.

The boy sighed.

He doesn't know if he was still tired or if he realized he's been through too much excitement in a short period of time, but he seemed ready to give up almost immediately. A type of behavior at odds with the one many people know him as.

"This labyrinth is too much for me. Plus there's no one coming here. So maybe…" A positive change overcame him that filled him with the paradoxical feeling of tiredness. He was overcome with a contradictory excitement and sleepiness once he realized something that he could do that he could never do in his original world.

"I can sleep in!"

Those words were followed by the blanket being thrown in the air, gently swaying in the wind with a truly joyous high school boy basking in the winter sun. His arms were spread as if to welcome a hug from a family member who just returned from overseas after a truly long period of absence.

The feeling of the blanket touching Kamijou's body almost lulled him to sleep on the stop instantaneously. He comfortably breathed in and out in a rhythmic pattern.

This was a beautiful opportunity that almost never happened. The boy will joyfully accept it even if the consequence for such a thing is feeling only even more tired in the long run.

A little bit out of sight was a blonde-haired girl with the odd bushy tail sashaying behind her. The rapid movements conveyed her inner nervousness. She was so close to starting up a conversation with Kamijou, but now…

_'It'd be too awkward if I woke him up just to talk to him!' _The perfect conversation starter, the blanket, failed fantastically.

"What are you doing?" asked a white-haired girl in a blunt manner. Kunou nearly jumped, her tail swishing in surprise before rapidly flipping her point of view to behind her.

It was Toujou Koneko. One of Issei's comrades that came with him on the school trip and who assisted in dealing with the Hero Faction problem that sprouted up. Kunou was naturally thankful to her, but the way Koneko popped up like a ninja nearly frightened all the gratitude out of her.

"Eh, uh, um…" Saying the truth would be embarrassing and speaking a lie would easily get seen through. Instead of her being forced to shamefully proclaim her folly, Koneko looked at the sleeping Kamijou and then looked back at the smaller kitsune in front. She only said a single thing before walking away.

"Troublesome." That made the blonde-haired girl sigh with relief. Her tail settled down from all the shaking it did and fell down along with the pace of her heartbeat. She still doesn't know how to broach a conversation though.

So, she was stuck like that until Kamijou decided to wake up again from his peaceful slumber.

The person in question who seemed to be happily counting the sheep away shifted to the right, closer to the danger of falling and smacking his head on the ground. Kunou watched him mumble something to himself while scrunching his face.

"Is he having a bad dream?" She looked on at the boy who gradually shifted his body to the right. Right when he was at the precipice of the engawa, Kunou tried to get his attention.

"Look out!" Unfortunately, it wasn't loud enough to wake him up, so his second alarm of the day was the feeling of weightlessness then the feeling of pain from his head impacting the dirt.

His eyes shot open and he clenched the specific place that slammed onto the ground. "Ow…!"

Kunou jogged to him as he was opening his eyes and then he turned with tears in his eyes towards the girl who looked a little nervous. "Oh, Kunou. Were you coming to wake me up?" he asked like he didn't just foolishly smack his body onto the ground.

It can be compared to the feeling of falling in a dream and then waking up before impact except Kamijou was falling in real life and woke up from the impact.

"Mmhmm." Kunou nodded with a quiet sound escaping her throat. "You looked tired, so I didn't want to wake you." The boy yawed in response.

"Nah, it's okay. I should've known that sleeping in wouldn't have done anything good for me. Starting the day and given your blanket back immediately would've been better." He stopped scratching he stop that he landed on and perked up as if remembering something.

"Speaking of that, here's your blanket back." He held out the blanket to the kitsune whose hands opened reflexively from being offered something. Kamijou dropped the warm piece of cloth in her hands with a thankful grin plastered on his face.

"Thank you." This was what she wanted. A nice conversation with the person who returned her happiness back.

Kamijou felt a certain pull on his stomach. He sat down back on the engawa and let out a relaxing a breath of air before asking a simple question.

"I'm hungry. What about you?" Kunou nodded with energy and put a sunny smile on her face.

The excitement in her eyes was clear even to an empathic blockhead like Kamijou. She seemed to be much happier than from what he's seen from their previous conversations and encounters.

Like a weight has been lifted off her shoulders.

"I see. Is there anything ready to eat, or should we go out into town?" The pointy-haired boy slightly shuddered after imagining the latter choice.

He can see it now. Going out into the city, being roped into working for a restaurant because he messed up or someone dropped some bills he didn't have enough money to pay for again. It wouldn't be wrong to say that he might have a slight fear of restaurants now.

"Don't worry. We have the best of cooks here. Our food is better than any other place. Tasty and healthy is the motto of the pure Kyoto cuisine!" The fox puffed out her chest in pride.

"I see." There was only a tired smile on the boy's face. His eyes widened from a small hand gripping his wrist and slightly pulling. "What?" Another tug forced him to his feet.

"Come on." He was forced to run to keep his face from eating the wooden floor. The smaller girl had more strength than what was expected in that little body of hers.

"Wait, hold on!" The pitter-patter of steps matched with clumsy stomps rang throughout the manse. The guards looked on with fondness in their hearts.

There was a brown-haired boy who looked up from the sound with interest in his eyes.

* * *

"This food really is…" He did taste this before, but he was busy focusing on more threatening matters. With his full attention undivided, he can grade this meal to his fullest capabilities of a poor student.

"This flavor and texture is a perfect ten." He begrudgingly sounded those words through the bites he took. This food is really something else.

But.

"Right?! We have the best cooks." The smaller blonde took bites out of scrumptious tofu that made her cheeks puff out like a chipmunk.

Kamijou was not done grading the meal. "In terms of accessibility for a poor student like myself… I have no choice but to give this a one."

"Huh?" Kunou thought she was just hearing things, but looking at the completely solemn countenance of the boy, she realized that what she heard wasn't just a simple illusion. "Why?"

She sounded disappointed, but the sadness of a girl couldn't deter the poor high school student from letting loose his bladed words.

"The ingredients are top notch, the cooks are top notch, the presentation is top notch. These are all points that is proof of why I rate the accessibility a one! Where am I ever going to find delicious food on the same level of this again?! If I try to cook for myself, I'll only find everything I eat wanting. Eating this was a curse!"

A delicious fruit in the wild, yet it was poisonous. That same comparison flies true for this situation.

"I-I see." The kitsune was realizing that the person who saved her mother is not the perfect hero she envisioned him as. _'Is he okay?'_

If the boy heard her thoughts, he would've probably cried. A little girl asking him about his mental state would be the final nail in his coffin for the illusion of normality he puts on himself.

"I see, I see. That's an interesting take." Then out of nowhere, a brown-haired boy very well-known for his perversions entered the dining room. He heard the entire conversation and waited for a perfect opportunity to interject with his own opinion.

"The food is amazing right?" His grin was slightly infectious.

Kamijou nodded. "It's very good. One of the best meals I've ever eaten, which means something bad is going to happen soon." He sighed at that thought. A smile did grace his face once more thinking about the scrumptious meal. "Though… I'll never be able to make something on this level leaving my stomach forever starving for this."

"That means you just gotta make your cooking skills better!" Issei pumped himself up just thinking of Kamijou's foray into the world of chefs.

"Hyoudou… You're absolutely correct. I just have to be even better than even the superior cooks here!" The boy… no the man reaching enlightenment onto his new path stood up and matched the other boy's grin with one of his own.

"That's right. And once you're done, you can use your cooking skills to draw in all the big-breasted chicks. All of the big titties!"

"All of the big titties?" A sudden cloud of confusion overcame Kamijou's thoughts.

"All of the big titties Kamijou!"

It was then that the boy realized something interesting and moderately weird. He had an odd feeling before, but now he's certain of it. It was the way the boy said his name that gave him the necessary insight to realizing this truth.

"You sound like someone I know. It's like you two share the same voice, but with a different tone."

The boy who was riding his oppai-high was pulled down from the clouds when he heard a calm voice sounding more like a clinical analysis than anything else. He crossed his arms in confusion at the non-sequitur.

"Really? What kind of person is he?" The intense passion that was too oppressive to intrude into chilled enough for Kunou to join in, yet she sat on the side. To her, this was a perfect way to learn more about the black-haired boy.

"He's…" He's at a loss on how to present the crazy magician. "He likes to fight. A lot. Actually too much than what I consider healthy. Fighting itself is unhealthy though." He placed a hand to his chin in thought while letting his eyes wander.

"Ah, I know what you mean. There's a crazy bastard I know that likes to fight as well. Too much if I say so myself. What a battle-freak!" Issei grumbled to himself from a recent memory rushing to the forefront.

Kamijou snapped his fingers at that. "Yeah that's the word. A battle-freak. The person you sound exactly like is a damn battle-freak. Crazy blonde that does whatever he feels and drags me into his crap whenever I'm near." Now Kamijou was grumbling like Issei.

"Is he a bad person then?" Kunou's curiosity compelled her to ask for more details on their bizarre relationship. Even Hyoudou was curious at that, though he already formed his own assumption.

He had an antagonistic relationship with the battle-freak he was mentioning, so he believes Kamijou does as well. Which was why his words surprised and sent the boy mentally reeling.

"Nah, we're pals."

""Huh?!"" Two voices overlapped in surprise from that admission. The spiky-haired boy belatedly realize that his words were a set-up to admit his antagonistic stance with the magician, but he didn't mind him all that much unless he was being exceptionally annoying.

"Well…" Now how can he summarize it up in a simple and concise manner? "…We fought, helped each other out, fought, fought again, then fought once more, so we're friends." He scratched his cheek in embarrassment.

"That doesn't make any sense!" Issei interjected with a wonderful rebuttal worthy of a ten out of ten score.

"What do you mean? Fighting others is no good, but it lets you understand them better. Wouldn't you gain a connection from that afterwards? Us teaming up after that means we're basically buddies, right? That's normal."

"You're sense of normal isn't right!" Issei retorted. Kamijou just tilted his head in confusion as he recalled his interactions with a majority of people he considers friends.

He playfights with Aogami and Tsuchimikado had a fight with Tsuchimikado that strengthened their bond, fought with Accelerator three separate times, fought Hamazura two times, Misaka chucks lightning at him with unhealthy frequencies, he fought Lessar once, fought Birdway once, fought Aleister… though that relationship is too complex to be defined as friendship, and he fought many others.

Then there was the most painful one against Othinus. An overwhelming slaughter that he barely survived physically and mentally. Because of that, he can safely say that his sense of normality is fine.

"No that's normal." Even Kunou looked weirded out by the difference in values. Unlike her however, Issei wasn't content with staying silent and made his discomfort audibly known.

"No it isn't. Those you made friends with have some screwed up values of normality as well." The brown-haired boy chuckled at what he perceived as a joke. "Damn, that was a nice joke. If you consider that normal, then anything goes for normality, right?"

"Hahaha, I guess you're right." Kamijou laughed along with him. His eyes wandered to his empty bowl and then he stood up with it. "Might as well clean this up."

"Just let the guards do it. We have to show you the proper hospitality, so feel free to relax as long as you're here," Kunou assured the boy.

He still felt a little unsure, but acquiesced to the girl's request. Her beaming smile told him that what he did was the correct choice.

"Ah! I remember what I came after you for." Issei palmed his fist. "What say you and the rest of us go and relax in the city? You did promise yesterday that you'd do it later." He grinned.

"I think today counts as later, so what do you say?" Kamijou was taken aback at that request. Yes, he does remember making a halfhearted promise like that, but for it to be so soon was...

"Uh, maybe?" The halfheartedness of those words equaled that of yesterday's. "So, it was a school trip then…" To take the offer and relax with them or not is the real question. Kamijou has no real reason to refuse the offer. He shrugged his shoulders and was about to take Issei up on it.

But hold on now. "Who else is coming with us?" It was an innocent question, yet the boy's fate hinged on the answer.

"Kiba, Xenovia-chan, Irina-chan, Koneko-chan, and Genshirou." The hesitant Kamijou already decided whether or not he was going to take up on Issei's offer even before he listed the names.

"Sorry, but I'm not really feeling well. We could do it even later than later, right Hyoudou?" His helpless smile made Issei frown in response, but he ultimately accepted the rejection with a nod. "Thanks, but I think I need a bit of air right now. A trip out into town by myself should do some good."

"If you say so… Oh! Don't forget that I'll help you out if you need anything. I owe you a lot after all!" The cheer in his countenance that was as bright as a star made Kamijou smile back in response.

"Thanks."

* * *

"Now what should I do?" said a black-haired boy all by his lonesome in the middle of a bustling town. His hands were in his pockets and his face was reminiscent of that of a lazy man on a stroll.

He then pulled one of his hands out of his pockets, revealing a flip phone in his palm. He stared at it with trepidation, like it was going to explode or go missing in front of his very eyes. "When are they going to call me again?"

The worry in his voice was clear to see to even the most obtuse child. He grit his teeth before stuffing it back into his pocket.

The way the streets were populated with people selling random trinkets and advertisers trying to garner attention to their stores and restaurants reminded Kamijou of home. It was something that was similar enough to Academy City, yet fundamentally different to his world. It was missing that homely scent of normality that kept the boy loving the wonderful twisted city he lived in.

The boy was so distracted that he didn't even realize his feets taking him into one of the restaurants being hyped up by a balding middle-aged man with sweat making the bald spot a second sun.

"It's so full!" When his awareness kicked in, those were the only words that spilled from his lips. The inside was as populated as the outside with nearly every seat filled. From the booths to the tables and chairs.

"Good thing I'm not feeling too hungry though." He stepped out after seeing that chaotic atmosphere. He had a feeling he'd be swept up into something extremely troublesome had he actually stayed there.

"Kyoto food is probably really good, but it's not worth being wrapped up in something wild to satisfy my own gluttony." His musings went unheard as he just walked through the entire city cloaked by normality. There wasn't anything in this city that really lit his heart aflame with passion.

Maybe if there was a ramen stand, he could go a little crazy, but he can contain himself.

"Hm?" Though there was something that made his eyes light up. A normal, dank alleyway that had darkness stretching on forever. It reminded him of a delinquent hideaway from Academy City.

"This is pretty nice. I can think about the times I've been chased and had to run away all over the city through escaping these places." There was a gentle smile on his face, but if one were to look closer, they would see the barest glimmer of tears forming at the corner of his eyes.

It seems remembering the good also came with the memories of the bad and goomy incidents that pervade the misfortune magnet's life. He let out a laugh that seemed to be without humor as he delved deeper into the dank alleyway. In that lonely place where no one could see him, he spoke words that came from the core.

"I'm so tired." It felt like a dam was breaking and he nearly let out a tirade, but he quickly patched up that shattered dam before anything else leaked. A powerful sigh was the only thing that escaped him, carrying all the irritation he felt at his situation.

No matter where he goes, it seems abnormality follows him. Imagine Breaker negated the sparks of his old world, leading him to have 0 luck. That was the absolute truth.

If that applied to there, then what about here. Why did he gain a propensity for garbage luck? Did that cursed talent cling to him from the old world, or does that mean sparks apply here.

"Just how long is this alleyway anyways?" Even though he was walking at a slow pace, he should've been out of this narrow passageway by now. He quickened his walking speed.

"No way…" What he saw after walking some more was the final nail in the coffin to the theory that Imagine Breaker isn't the only reason for his bad luck because right in front of him was a person he's seen before.

An antagonistic individual that he faced just the other day in a truly exhausting conflict. "What are you doing here, Cao Cao?!"

The man summoned the True Longinus all while sporting a calm look on his face. He seemingly ignored the question and began to speak like he was all alone.

"I can't use Truth Idea. I can't even activate Balance Breaker. Most of this Sacred Gear's power has been incredibly weakened." He spoke in a clinical manner. Like the state of his weapon didn't bother him in the slightest.

While Kamijou eyed the lance, he subtly moved his right hand out of his pocket. Cao Cao naturally caught the amateur stealth, which caused him to chuckle.

"You did this." His eyes snapped up at the boy with the freakish right hand. "You did this," he repeated as if in a trance.

"Really, how am I supposed to react to that. You came stumbling into this city, crashed our first plan, and then utterly destroyed our second plan. It's so ridiculous all I can do is laugh." The demeanor of the man was at odds with Kamijou's expectations.

He seemed to be so assured that what he was doing was right. He felt righteous anger for his cause and was aggressive to his enemies and those who denigrated what he stood for. That was the little that the spiky-haired boy understood about Cao Cao from their meager interactions.

The leader of the Hero Faction pointed his spear at Kamijou. "You ruined the ultimate sacred gear with a power you have. A power that belongs to a human." The tighter he gripped onto the holy lance, the more it's appearance seemed to flicker. It seemed like a computer glitch manifested into reality before the two's eyes.

One of the two was shocked. The other smiled.

"At first, I was furious," Cao Cao began. "The weapon that was a vehicle for my ideals was but a shade of what it once was. The strongest of all sacred gears with the Will of God locked inside." He struggled to speak his words, like he was recalling a hazy memory.

"Despite all it had going for it…" His eyes blazed with an unholy passion. The holy spear could no longer maintain its form in reality. All that was left was a thin, pale outline of where it should be, fiercely held onto by the wielder.

"...It was destroyed by a human!" Kamijou unconsciously took a step back from the sheer torrent of emotions carried by those words. The sentiment wasn't something the boy could grasp.

He couldn't understand Cao Cao. "What do you want then? I weakened it with my right hand, so now what?" A bead of sweat formed on his forehead. The bandages of his body compared to the pristine state of Cao Cao is telling of who would come out the victor in a fight between them.

"Hm? I only want to chat a little with a fellow exceptional human. You've left the realm of normality just like me, so I want to hear your unique perspective on things. Just us two without any of my subordinates. What do you say?"

Kamijou had no reason to accept. He was a person who made a little girl cry with no remorse and had the undying belief that all supernatural creatures must die, leaving only humans on the Earth to remain. Gods, Devils, Angels, Dragons; they all must fall beneath his spear.

The boy knew that.

"Fine."

He knew that, yet he still accepted anyways. Because Kamijou couldn't understand Cao Cao's reasoning, he sought to understand.

"Heh. I honestly didn't expect you to accept, so believe me when I say this a pleasant surprise." Kamijou was also surprised by the happiness on Cao Cao's face.

"Though I'm really not supposed to be here. I snuck out from my base and I dodged all the guards on high alert just to reach you." At this, Cao Cao arrogantly laughed at his perceived success. The other boy nervously chuckled at how another explosive battle was just barely avoided.

"How convenient that my knowledge on barriers gave me the ability to create this opportunity. Picking Georg's brain actually helped here." Cao Cao finally relaxed with his spear vanishing. He walked closer to Kamijou and spoke with the familiarity of a friend.

"Wait a second." Kamijou's eyes widened. "The trip through the dark alleyway being abnormally long. That was you?"

"Of course," he spoke as if it was a given. "Do you think you can find a spot that continues on that long in this city?" The man shook his head from having to explain something so trite.

"Enough of that though. Let's start this conversation off with a simple question. Can you—" "That means I get to ask something, right?" Kamijou interrupted whatever Cao Cao had to say, much to his annoyance.

"That's fine if you would let me finish my question." The only response he got back was a frown accompanied by silence. Taking that as a permission he never needed other than for courtesy's sake to continue onward, he finished his previous question.

"Are you able to restore my Sacred Gear to its previous state?" It was a simple question. Kamijou blinked in confusion from asking something so obvious, but realized that the person before him really didn't understand how his right hand worked unlike most people in his old world.

He held up his right hand and just gave a general explanation. "I can't reverse what this thing does. It's all or nothing...in more ways than one."

Cao Cao nodded. "I see." It told him a little bit more about its mystery, but there's nothing concrete for him to understand about it. The limitations and weaknesses aren't too certain, but he feels that the information he does know about it can be put to good use.

"What about you?" Words from the person of interest cut through his thoughts and created an odd atmosphere. Cao Cao was utterly taken aback by the question, his mind bereft of any understanding of the motive.

"Me? What about me?"

"Why you're going through all of this. I don't really understand this world all that much, but from what I've seen, it doesn't justify wholesale slaughter of all races other than humans like you're some all righteous god."

_'I assumed wrongly initially and I still don't know enough.' _Gaining knowledge about the weapon he wielded holding the Will of God and facing off against him led Kamijou to forming a wrong opinion about him. He first thought that possessing that weapon made him feel that he had a legitimacy to his beliefs and made him in the right, but that wasn't the whole truth. Even with his weapon broken, nothing has changed about him. Cao Cao's destructive and repugnant beliefs come from the core of his being.

"I guess I can tell you a little bit. I was exploited and taken advantage of by supernatural creatures, thus I wish to exterminate them all. Simple and concise." The way he said it so calmly, like it was a natural thing made the high school boy's eyes widen in understanding and his face contort in revulsion.

"You're insane," he spat out. "Just because a part hurt you, you want to excise the whole? There's no way that's right!"

"You speak from the worldview of the common people. "No that's not right. No you haven't seen them all." The only right I care for is my own right. I've gathered many like-minded thinkers to build up this group from scratch. The supernatural monsters are a tumor. Instead of cutting out the tumor, I will destroy the entire infected organ."

"You…!" The other boy lost the ability to form coherent words at the other teen's words. It was a stream of venomous thoughts finally being put into words in the most toxic manner.

The type of person to carry their arrogance to the extreme. A belief that has left the realm of normality and exceeded even a supernatural worldview. This is a unique madness limited to just the one person possessing this mindset.

"I will destroy all supernatural monsters. Angels, Fallen Angels, Devils, Dragons, Youkai, Vampires, Werewolves, Homunculi, Gods, Buddhas, Valkyries, Grim Reapers! I'll kill them all and leave only Humans as the sole beings in existence!" This was Cao Cao's creed.

"I see." Kamijou Touma glared at the vicious man dead on, bandages not detracting from the severity of the opposite stance he took from him. Yes, this happens every time. No matter where he is or whatever the event, there's always someone he has to stand against.

And he'll do it every time without hesitation.

"I will stop you. I absolutely won't let you fulfill your dream, Cao Cao!" He ran towards that madman and threw a punch.

Before it could strike true, the leader of the Hero Faction caught it and gripped tightly. "I may be weaker, but you're even weaker than I am," he condescendingly spoke while looking at the battered boy's appearance. "You couldn't recover all the way from healing magic? Did I really hurt you...that much!"

A knee rose to Kamijou's gut to punctuate his words, knocking the air out of him. Before he could recover, a hand snaked its way to his throat and lifted him into the air. Seeing resistance still in his eyes, Cao Cao slammed the boy into a wall, leaving spiderweb cracks.

"Grk!" Gritting his teeth didn't stop the blood from dribbling down his chin.

"I could kill you right now, but that wouldn't be any good. It would also leave my goal tarnished." Kamijou pushed at his arm, but it was no good. It was an immovable steel pillar that was impossible to pry away from him.

"I just had a good idea. The Red and White dragons are rivals. I would never accept something other than a human as my rival, so you're perfect. I'll use you as a grindstone to sharpen my resolve and my edge." A manic gleam flashed in Cao Cao's eyes.

"How about it, Kamijou Touma?!" The response to his question was a shoe to the face. It wasn't exceptionally painful, but it was distracting enough for his grip to lessen just enough so Kamijou could get loose.

"Hehe." An emotionless chuckle accompanied by a smile. Cao Cao stared at the retreating boy without a hint of fear, only jubilation.

"They say a Sacred Gear responds according to a user's will. Now that the Will of God is gone from this thing, I wonder how it will respond now." He summoned the holy spear and glared at it. "True Longinus, do you know what's in my heart?!"

The spear distorted ominously with the hastily made barrier by Cao Cao starting to fall apart. Kamijou's instincts screamed at him to duck, so he followed it.

He barely avoided his head getting sliced off as the walls next to him were deeply torn into by an extended lance horizontally ripping through everything. The boy had to run back to avoid being crushed by the fallen rubble, but he lost sight of his enemy as a result.

The dust rising obfuscated Cao Cao's body, but Kamijou glimpsed a moving shadow. It came speeding by and he turned his body as fast as possible to avoid it!

A rock zipped by and scraped a small amount of skin from his cheek. His attention being taken by that single speeding pebble, blinded him to the hidden blade. Of course, even blinded, there's no way he would be ignorant of the blade any longer.

Especially when it was piercing through his stomach and coming out his back.

"Ah…" Words were interrupted by a waterfall of blood expunged from his body through his mouth. It was an unhealthy amount of dark-red liquid painting the ground in its colors. Kamijou's eyes began glazing over, but then Cao Cao started whispering.

"If you're my rival, then you won't die from this." A quiet voice that felt louder than a thunderstorm. Kamijou's right hand twitched. He reached for the spear embedded in his gut, but Cao Cao ripped it out before it could be forcefully dispelled like the other times.

Consequently, a spray of blood left Kamijou's body. He only barely managed to slump himself against the rubble before losing the strength to stand then falling with his back against the remains of what stood.

Red liquid pooled beneath his body. It was a fatal amount of blood loss. His breathing quickened and he felt his insides grow colder. The stab wound was the only thing that burned hot.

Footsteps grew more distant from his ears as his eyes began to shut. _'Thor, Othinus…Index.'_

There was a strange feeling in his head. One might call it a moment's clarity before death, but Kamijou's scrambled thoughts dissipated with only a single thing remaining.

A powerful desire to live. "All I need…is a little guts, right?" He looked at the abnormality forming on his devastating injury but he couldn't even bring himself to care.

Normal.

There was a fierce grin on his face.

Normal.

There was a powerful undying light in his eyes.

Normal.

He clenched his right hand and stood up from an otherwise fatal wound.

Normal.

He took a few shaky steps. He couldn't even see where that monstrous human who's surpassed humans went.

"...I'm going to stop you, Cao Cao," he muttered before falling to the ground with his right hand outstretched in the direction where he escaped.

The contrast between the sea of dark red blood and the pure white jacket created a strange imagery of a fallen angel suffering the punishment for committing the greatest of all sins: ignorance.


	7. Secret Journeys

**AN: I know none of you guys expected another chapter this early. The reason why I finally acted like a decent human being is because this chapter and the previous one were originally one chapter that got split into two as one reviewer easily predicted. As always, give me some reviews and the nice critique, so I can improve this as much as possible.**

**FabledLife: Nobody questioned it because there were more important things going on at the time. Now with this little incident and nothing else to interrupt, Azazel was free to let himself loose a little. I can guarantee bad luck rampaging about at least.**

**Icewolf9879: I already have plans for what I'm gonna do with the right hand and what lays beyond.**

**StoryReiter: Odd that you say he's been disillusioned. It's funny from my POV. Cao Cao's just a loon atm though. There's a difference between DxD and Toaru that will fracture the story so to speak. Everything's already been thrown off the rails, so hold onto your pants.**

**Ylnadiir: Fuck. How did you know?**

**Guest: I'll try my best to complete it. I already planned out IT's first foray out into this world.**

**ChancePluto: I'll take that as a compliment.**

**Cesar Loli Poccori: DxD's sense of normality is utterly broken and it's funny how it conflicts with Touma's. There is a nice little replacement for the tried and true AC medicine, though it's not as effective as one might believe.**

**FAFNIR9029: Thanks.**

**Aminadab Brulle: Sometimes a little Guts is all you need to move onward.**

**daggercloak000: Thanks for the compliment. As for anyone else dropping in? Who knows.**

**PUSSYSMASHER: Nice name bro and thanks for the compliments.**

**Cheesecake244351: And now we come to the biggest review. I'm glad this one of all crossovers managed to catch your eye. Touma being stingy about food isn't the only thing that he picked up from his poor man's lifestyle. Unfortunately, Thor and Issei do not share the same VA, though they do sound pretty similar. Cao Cao's a weird character. He's actually one of the two characters who I don't have any finished role for, so he has that freedom cause some events for me. I got some plan for Ophir though. I will say: everything beyond the right hand will be relevant at one point, so don't you worry. If something super plot relevant happens in GT and doesn't rip through the plot I have established, then it will most likely appear here.**

* * *

Chapter 6: The_Endless_Play

"So much to do, so little time," said a young man staring at the sky. What he viewed was the fizzling of a weak barrier he put up being replaced by another with a slightly purple tinge. He was already ducking and weaving through the memorized movements of the local Tengu guards in an effort to avoid being spotted. He felt a slight disappointment that they actually didn't spot him, but that was masked by a face showing relief.

"Should I've aimed higher?" Cao Cao was mulling over the decision to pierce his new rival's abdomen. The thought that he was regretting the placement of the injury he delivered rather than the act itself is telling of his twisted perspective; not that it wasn't obvious from the outset.

He pushed the trivial thoughts from his mind once he sensed some powerful and familiar beings of strength near him. He melded his presence into the background of the common people with a hood already covering any recognizable features from their sight.

The leader of the Hero Faction picked an odd route to his destination that might've looked extremely inefficient from those dependent on GPSes. Stabbing Kamijou Touma in a spontaneous act of lunacy that was doing nothing but risking his cover forced him to be extra cautious. He snuck out from his base right underneath the Youkai Faction's nose to fulfill his mad desire.

Now he's paying for his carelessness.

Luckily for him, the winding path he haphazardly created eventually paid off when he made it back to the crummy base without a tail on him. He let out a sigh when he saw his blonde bubbly subordinate awaiting him outside of the abode.

"So, what did you leave for, boss?" Said boss removed his now useless hood and stared at Jeanne with the connotation of a glare. He seemed to be asking _what are you doing here_ with just his eyes.

"There's uh…" The descendant of the French hero broke into a cold sweat from the combination of Cao Cao's imposing presence and something else that had her waiting outside. Cao Cao raised a brow, which prompted her to finally let out the issue. "There's a problem."

"A problem?" he wondered to himself. He ran many simulations in his mind of what could've led to an issue that warranted one of his stronger members to show a face of concern and mild dread before reaching a conclusion that had him worried as well.

"One of our tentative allies is here then."

Jeanne didn't know whether to nod or shake her head from that conclusion. "Ophis is here."

It was like a thunderclap went off in his mind. _'Of course she would show up. Great Red showed up just the other day!' _He bit his lip.

"You did fine. Considering how nothing's a complete wreck and no one's swarming around like vultures, nothing tragic occurred." His words garnered a feeling of relief from his subordinate, but the purpose of them was to calm himself more.

Speaking to buy time for his thoughts._ '__Avoiding a direct conversation with her seems impossible at this juncture.' _

"Alright," he began. "I do need to report some things to her as well as do something else that concerns her."

There is an opportunity to be gained here and Cao Cao knows it. The risk is great, but the gains are even greater. He just needs to trust in himself to carry his ideals through no matter what. Jumping into the maw of a dragon wouldn't be the most dangerous thing he's done anyways. Hell, he feels like he can do anything.

He donned a smirk and marched inside his base with the composure of a proper leader only for it to slightly falter at the apathetic gaze of a dragon god. No matter how much composure and arrogance a person can muster up, it will be useless against the presence of infinity. There's not a single mortal creature stronger than the nonstandard abomination in front of him.

He waited for her to speak first. "..."

He quickly realized that was a stupid thing due to her innate nature. "What is the occasion?" he inquired.

"Great Red appeared. Why?" The dull eyes she had were possessed by a curious glint.

At this, Cao Cao hesitated. He has a feeling that if he names Kamijou, he might get roped into this whole mess, which is not what he wants yet. On the other hand, telling a lie would only get him vaporized most likely. Ophis may be a monster with the naivety of a child, but on the off chance that a lie gets uncovered…

_'Best not to risk it.'_

"I had the help of my best magician manipulate ley lines to call it. It was a test." Yes. This was the best thing to say: a truth that omits some details.

"I see. Good job." Her ips rose to form an eerie smile that did not suit the face it was on. It was empty and devoid of any emotion, a very uncanny thing that almost made Cao Cao shiver. He wished the others were here with him to experience this dreadful meeting.

Speaking of that though… "Where are the others?" Cao Cao made a show of looking around the base to catch a glimpse of them, but it was like they completely skipped out on him. His eyes snapped back onto Ophis when it seemed she was going to respond with a satisfactory answer.

"They all said they had something of utmost importance to do, though you would be ready to answer any questions I had." It was not a satisfactory answer.

Cao Cao smiled. It wasn't a nice one in the slightest. _'The reason why Jeanne was nervous. All of them now have a good reason to be nervous.' _

Ophis held out her hand. From her sleeve, an ink-colored snake slithered out onto her palm, ready and waiting for a command. She held it out to Cao Cao. "This is your reward."

Before taking it, he slightly craned his neck downwards in a weak facsimile of a bow. There would be no point in questioning her motive for rewarding him with this. Looking a gift horse in the mouth is the last thing he should do.

This was exactly what he wanted. The wielder of the True Longinus knows exactly what to use this for. "It seems the winds of fate are in my favor," he muttered to himself.

"What do you mean by that?" Cao Cao nearly jumped due to forgetting the fattest elephant in the room.

"Just expressing my utmost gratitude for your gift is all." The smile could not have been more fake. Even a lizard could put more emotion into that smile than what he just did, though the naive and emotionally stunted monster took it at face value.

"Tell me more about Great Red's appearance." Cao Cao's internal cheering turned into internal weeping as he had to weave a tale that cut out Kamijou's actions.

_'__Guess I can just twist his actions into something that the Red Dragon Emperor did. You owe me one, Kamijou Touma.'_

* * *

Said Kamijou Touma was bleeding out with his thoughts drifting away. His brain was a mush and he could only feel coldness. He slowly tried moving his right hand over the wound.

Whether it was to stifle the bleeding or to pointlessly try to numb the pain was unknown. No matter what he wanted, he couldn't carry out what his body was telling him to do. He no longer had the strength to nudge any part of his body and had to pathetically wait out his death.

He remembered something from someone. He doesn't remember who spouted the idea or if it was actually him who thought it, but there was the idea that the reason he survives so long is because of his misfortune. It wouldn't let him luck out from an easy death, but a slow, agonizing one could be fitting to its twisted palette.

"Grk…!" He involuntarily wheezed from choking on blood. He was forced to painfully cough it up.

"...ey, he's… ver…!" The boy heard something, but his ears wouldn't focus. His unfocused eyes stared up at blurry faces that seemed worried and were shouting something at him. The noises all jumbled together and it was keeping him awake.

He's feeling tired though. Kamijou could feel his mind slipping further and further into the realm of dreams.

But it's fine now. With all those people worrying over him, he'll probably be right as rain when he wakes up. He can smile with those thoughts as he passes out. Future Kamijou can busy himself worrying over his injuries later.

_Who?_

* * *

"Hmm, hmmm, hmmm~" The androgynous blonde magician, Thor, was sitting crosslegged in the snow with his only company being a former magic god and two unconscious valkyries. Well, there was a third one, but she's currently a corpse at the moment.

The little magic god was stoically looking at the corpse, feeling a small amount of pity before snapping at Thor.

"Just how long are you going to keep up that irritating tune?" Surprisingly, he stopped. Othinus expected him to raise the volume of his humming in return out of spite. He rested his cheek in his left hand with a bit of gloom taking up the majority of his brain. He seemed to be mourning the dead a little, though the earlier hum would've been disrespectful.

"I did it to take my mind off this monotonous wait. How could I not be going stir-crazy after trying a bunch of stuff to wake up these sleeping beauties and sitting here for about half an hour?" Othinus just gave up on trying to read him.

"Anyways... How much trouble do you think dear old Kamijou-chan has gotten himself into?" A wide smile made its way to Thor's face just from bringing up that exciting person.

"I can take a guess. He most likely gained more than a few injuries in the crap he got himself wound up in." Othinus spat out that guess with an annoyed tone, disguising the worry she actually feels for him.

"Yep! It's natural for someone like him to get roped into trouble. Which is why..." An odd smile appeared on the contradictory magician. "...I want to match his trouble with my own."

"What do you mean by that?" Those ominous words necessitated an explanation. The little fairy's inquisitive nature kicked in right then in there.

"He naturally gets roped into trouble with all that misfortune following him around, so I gotta equalize our experiences by forcing myself into troubles. Can't let him get too far ahead of me after all, haha!" Thor's easygoing words were at odds with the fierce grin on his face that showed just how serious he was.

His statement wasn't a careless one in the slightest. He knew, understood, and acknowledged the type of dangerous incidents Kamijou gets involved in, yet he knowingly decided to force himself into similar ones in an excuse to level the playing field.

Kamijou is the only one he can have a true equal fight with, but the dynamic will change unless he equalizes the experience. Just thinking about the idea that Kamijou would get ahead of him and actually defeat him in their next fight has him feeling an odd way that he can confidently say he dislikes.

Which was why he decided to stay here and wait for the awakening of the Valkyries. He can just smell something interesting from this event. "Buncha experience points waiting up ahead."

It was right after those words that something happened. A booming noise that caused a massive amount of snow to rise. Both of the foreigners' mouths gaped as they were covered in a sudden avalanche.

"What the hell was that!" He attempted to push all the snow off of him and succeeded. Othinus barely scraped by from being buried alive by tucking herself in the annoyed magician's pocket.

Thor looked toward the source of the explosion only to see a man wielding a large hammer. His burly build seemed to be at odds with his sheepish expression.

"My apologies." The sincerity of the apology was all it took for Thor to realize that it wasn't really worth picking a fight over. Both victims sighed, thinking that something like this would usually happen to a boy they all know and appreciate.

The cause of the rising and falling of snow turned to the sleeping Valkyries with a serious face. "Hey, who are you?" The large man ignored Thor's question and walked towards the only dead woman.

"What are you…" He picked her up in his arms and turned to the long-haired blonde.

"Could you tell me what happened here?" Thor scratched his cheek at the line of questioning.

"It's unknown whether he'll become hostile if we tell him the events, but I don't believe he will. You should inform him." Playing the part of a wise god, Othinus offered advice to her former subordinate at which he shrugged his shoulders at.

"I got involved in battle with some guys with bat wings and these Valkyries. One was already dying by the time I got there, so I just defeated all the baddies. The hammer-wielding man looked at the bloody corpses of the devils and nodded his head.

"I see. It seems I… no, we owe you a debt. Needless to say, these damn Old Satan Factioneers started targeting us after allying with the Abrahamic Factions." The clenching of his fist due to an ongoing issue has Thor mildly confused.

Though this seems to be the perfect avenue to get some proper information about this world instead of just observing from an outsider's perspective.

"Hey." So, he put on a smile and casually stepped up to the large man. "Mind telling me exactly what's going on in this crazy world? I'm a newbie to all of this."

"A newbie?" He raised a suspicious brow. "A newbie that took out these mid and high-class devils?"

The answer the man got from that unasked question was a plastic smile that reeked of secrets. He sighed and shook his head.

"Whatever. Come with me and I'll tell you all that you need to know."

There was a small moment of silence before the large man picked all three of the Valkyries with the dead one being gently held in his arms. He briefly looked back at the uncharacteristically hesitant Thor.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get going." A pause then a sigh. Thor walked after the unknown man.

"What do you think, Ex-Boss?" His voice was at a whisper. It was obvious whose insight he wanted.

"It was strange that he openly accepted you to come with him. He has his back turned and his hands are full, which means he's either really trusting and naive…"

"...Or he's confident in his strength to take me out." Thor finished her words with a grin. He already had a somewhat fun fight earlier against those so-called devils. "This world really is interesting. I wonder if Kamijou-chan is having as much fun as I am?"

The boy's eyes were shining.

* * *

Kamijou's eyes fluttered open as he took in the sight of a familiar room. "You're up already?"

He slowly moved his eyes to the direction of the voice only to see the man that Issei called Azazel sitting down next to him. "What happened?" he slurred out. He attempted moving, but felt the tight constriction of bandages wrapped around his torso to keep his guts from spilling out.

After that he felt pain, which caused him to reflexively hold his stomach. The boy was in a daze. The bicolored fallen angel snorted at his attempts not to make any noise out of discomfort.

"I was hoping to ask you that exact question. Everyone competent felt a barrier being put up, so we all headed there as fast as possible only to see you bleeding out on the ground with a stupid smile on your face."

Kamijou's eyes widened. The memories are starting to fall back into place.

"That's…right. I ran into Cao Cao again and he stabbed me all while saying crazy stuff I couldn't really make heads or tails of." His eyes grew slightly hazy as he tried to remember more.

"Then I think I remember you guys coming over. What happened?"

"Panicking over a person that was about to become a corpse, fury at not being able to find who snuck in and did this, and dread that our healing abilities were failing. We were forced to perform some good old fashioned battlefield treatment." His serious countenance melted into something more teasing.

"Some of us even considered cauterization." The injured boy paled at that and instantly dropped his gaze to his injury.

"You, uh… You guys didn't do that, right?" The trickster merely smiled.

"Anyways."

"Don't say "anyways" to a super important question like that! I'm seriously concerned for any burn scars that might be left on my body!"

"The real question is something that we never should've put off in the first place. Why does supernatural healing not work on you? More specifically, why does it not work on your right hand?" Azazel was extremely curious about this phenomenon. He could no longer hold his inquisitive nature back and decided to interrogate the source of it all.

"The other day, they tried healing you and it failed. It wasn't really an important thing, so we foolishly put it off. It seemed to've bit us in the cheeks this time around." The spiky-haired teenager looked to the side.

"The pure blonde girl that would make a fantastic angel tried healing you, but it casually failed. We manage to track the effects of that to your right hand, and a few of us were considering chopping it off to fix you up." Seeing the boy's complexion rapidly pale forced a chuckle out of the ancient fallen angel.

He corrected his wrong assumption before he burst out another panicked complaint. "Fortunately, we had Phoenix Tears that were directly applied to that one spot."

Kamijou held out his right hand and stared at it with many complicated feelings. "Phoenix Tears?"

"Think of it like an elixir from a video game, only it can be applied to a direct spot instead of the entire body. Again, it would be nice if you informed us about that oddity you have going on for you."

Kamijou sighed. "I don't really know everything about it. I've had this Imagine Breaker for as long as I can remember and it's always negated the supernatural. To be honest, even with all the drawbacks, I'm grateful for having this thing." He smiled and closed his hand.

"What a devilish thing." Azazel chuckled as he tried to match up the description of the power to anything he's heard in the past. His accumulated experiences and knowledge on mysterious powers proved fruitless for once when it came to something like this, which was downright baffling towards him.

Though it would be a lie if he said his inner scientist isn't raring to go research about something unknown.

"And…" The fallen angel perked up at Kamijou's hesitance. He seemed to want to add something extra, but he stopped himself.

"And what? You got something more about that freaky hand of yours?" The boy narrowed his eyes at the man's lopsided grin. He dropped his hand on the tatami mat and expelled a breath of air.

"Nothing really." There's nothing else he really knows about his right hand other than speculation that people have said about it.

_Reference point for the world, a panacea, something that can gently save or coldly slay, a black box._

Even ignoring all that, there are the unknown and unidentifiable idiosyncrasies that happen when it's removed. Dragons, an invisible thing, the abomination that erupted in England, and the whole issue that happened at Windsor Castle.

Something that apparently has nothing to do with Imagine Breaker itself, yet no less monstrous. _'It's frightening.'_ Kamijou truly fears what lies beyond the right hand more than anything else.

Azazel sighed at the internal thoughts that were playing across the spiky-haired boy's face. He didn't want to push him, but he really wanted to know more. "Well, I believe that's enough of the heavy stuff. I wonder if I should let the rest of the kids in."

"Wait." Kamijou looked up at the standing Azazel. He had a burning question on his mind.

"Is the Phoenix Tear slow acting?"

Azazel immediately understood the meaning behind the question and responded with the negatory gesture. "I expected it to be instant, but I was greeted with another surprise that's quickly becoming something normal. All that money down the drain and it didn't even do much." The man sounded disappointed at the crappy healing. The smile on his face sang a different tune though.

"M-money?" That word pulled on a deep-seated trauma possessed by the boy. His teeth were chattering just the smallest amount. "Exactly how much money do those things cost if you put it into Yen?"

The fallen angel's grin was of a different breed compared to the nervous grin on the human's face. _'It seems I found out an interesting trait about this boy. Let's see how far I can take this little joke.'_

"What are the prices of houses around this area again?" The terrifying method of answering a question with another question to enrich the conversation was super effective against the poor-type high school boy.

As a result, the boy lost his marbles, lifted up the futon, and looked under it to find a way to escape the illusion he seemed to have been trapped in. It had to have been an illusion to hear a death sentence like that after all If it was reality, then it would be too scary to live in.

"T-time machine. I just need to find a time machine and everything will be alright." The deep-seated trauma of satanic money that resulted from Azazel's words was something that not even he predicted accurately.

"Wait, you don't have to pay for any of that! Don't worry at all!" He had to repeat himself multiple times for the boy to calm down and stop shaking like a broken vibrator. It was worth the special sight, for the fallen angel to relax his crazed mental faculties.

When the black-haired boy's emotional state transformed to tranquility from paranoia, he analyzed the debaucherous fallen angel for any trace of falsehoods due to all the teasing words he used. He found nothing of the sort this time.

A real buddha.

That's what the goatee-toting fallen angel appeared to be in Kamijou's eyes. He quickly laid back down on his futon and closed his eyes while muttering about being lucky not dealing with debt.

"Well, that's really it now. Unless you want to ask me something?" The leader of the Grigori already had a hand on the sliding door leaving Kamijou slightly slow to respond.

"Ah, there's really nothing else." The ancient being nodded to that answer and left the room, leaving the boy to his own thoughts, like what to do now or what should he do with Cao Cao basically marking him.

"I'm tired," he mumbled. Staring up at the ceiling fan spinning was a good way to lull himself to sleep. "Maybe I can get some more rest."

Soon after those words left his lips, the sliding door opened once more to reveal Issei and the rest of his friends looking slightly worried. Their tight features slackened in relief at Kamijou's healthy complexion. The boy himself sat up, feeling a little disappointed that he couldn't fall back into a slumber.

The disappointment was mostly overrode by seeing familiar faces.

"How do you feel?" asked a blonde handsome man. He seemed to be the overly friendly sort with how he casually strolled up to Kamijou's futon with a gentle smile on his face. He remembers Issei calling a pretty boy named Kiba one of his friends. _'This must be him then.'_

"I feel as good as I look." The amount of bandages on the black-haired boy's body that was even visible through the clothes he was wearing made Kiba laugh at the joke.

Following Kiba's footsteps, the others ambled to Kamijou's bedside and sat down beside him with varying expressions. Issei with a wide grin, Koneko with a neutral frown, Aisa with a worried look, Xenovia with a placid stare, and Irina with a simple smile.

"Really sucks that you didn't come and hang out with us. You might've enjoyed a nice time without getting ganked." Issei sounded a bit insensitive there, so he was lightly punched in the gut by the white-haired stoic girl.

Naturally he felt aggrieved while in anguishing pain, but didn't voice any complaints. "I just realized not all of us have actually talked," Kamijou mused. He seemed to have missed out on a good opportunity to get to know the new, colorful people in this foreign world due to him focusing on other critical matters.

He should amend that. "You all probably know me by now, but I'm Kamijou Touma. It's…good to meet you all."

"Are you really okay?" Instead of a similar greeting, the injured boy was met with blatant worry explicitly shown in green eyes from what seems to be the gentlest person he's ever laid eyes on.

"Uh," to be frank, he was confused by the worry she showed for him. "I'm alive, right? I'm fine and dandy."

"Dude you got messed up pretty badly. Some of us thought you weren't gonna make it. Not me though! I knew you were gonna pull through!"

"Thanks for the faith, Hyoudou." He held a hand to his gut where the pain decreased from a blindingly sharp pain to a sore wound akin to a pulled muscle. "I should've expected something like this to happen when I walked out alone in the middle of a city. With my bad luck, it's only natural I'd get stabbed twice in a week." He muttered that last part, which wasn't intended for anyone else to hear.

Unbeknownst to him, Koneko picked up on those low words and she focused on him with a small amount of intensity.

"No need to worry, Kamijou-san. With us here, no person would dare to harm your person." The knightly words came from the bluenette, Xenovia.

"Yep, yep. That's right indeed. Leave it to me and Xenovia, and the rest of us of course. We'll keep you safe and sound and away from any more fiendish attackers!" The cheerful statement was backed up by a reliable thumbs up from Irina.

"Thanks." Kamijou's smile wasn't faked. Even he has his limits on tolerance for punishment. Getting stabbed again would really bother him immensely. "You guys seem much more reliable than me, so it means a lot."

Kiba slightly frowned at those demeaning words that were strikingly aimed at the self. "Speaking of reliability, you were quite the help in saving Yasaka-dono."

"Nah, don't worry about it." Kamijou abashedly smiled and repeated words that sounded like they were said a thousand times before. "I was just in the right place at the right time. I know others that would've done the same."

"Oh yeah!" Issei slammed his fist into the palm of his hand as if remembering something. "Why exactly were you in Kyoto to begin with? I remember Azazel looking up your records and finding nothing about you living here."

Issei casually tossed out a piece of info the fallen angel probably didn't want Kamijou to know. The spiky-haired boy sighed because he was used to people researching him, and wasn't that a depressing thought?

"The reason I'm here is…" Everybody leaned in as he unintentionally paused, creating an effect that hyped people up for the answer. He shrugged his shoulders and shook his head.

"It was an accident. To be honest—" He broke the pacing of his words with a yawn. He brought a hand to cover it before it was over as he felt a sudden exhaustion wash over his body. "Oh. I must be more tired than I thought."

Issei eyed him for just a moment.

"We'll stop by later. We'll all be leaving in a few hours, so we have to make it count! I won't let you escape another hangout session." After Issei's oath, he stood up, which prompted everyone else to stand up alongside him. The boy waved to Kamijou who responded with a weak wave of his own.

With them all gone, Kamijou laid down in his futon and turned on his side. He could still feel the dull pain from his stomach.

_'How could I not be affected by something like that?' _He grit his teeth with his features twisting into an uncomfortable sight. He remembered the pain as well as Cao Cao putting his expectations on himself for something. He said a bunch of ridiculous stuff, like having Kamijou be his rival.

The boy had no desire to fulfill his stupid fantasies of roleplaying heroes in the slightest and he didn't feel like playing the hero over and over again.

Kamijou failed to understand Cao Cao, failed to find Othinus and Thor without getting into an incident, and now he's injured and out of commission for a bit. His body is weak and it would be best to just get some rest before moving out.

"Screw that." The teenager forcefully removed the covers and stubbornly tried to move his body. Glaring at the bandages that were restricting his movement, he stripped off the temporary clothes that he was put in and removed the bandages that limited his movements the most. The wound with a discolored patch of skin with some bloodstains was ingrained in his eyes.

Kamijou put on the clothes he wore when he first came into this world. The cozy white hoodie and school uniform. Unfortunately his pants were different, but he's at least dressed enough to go outside.

"Academy City is in Tokyo, so I should probably go to this world's Tokyo to see if anything will turn up." The boy was muttering plans to himself. It was nothing more than a start, yet it was miles better than what he was doing before.

Reacting to events was a pathetic move when he first arrived. Continuing along that same pattern would only lead to failure. He made his futon, folded his clothes, and left the dirty bandages on top of the folded clothes. He stood up and snuck right out of the Manse, using his naturality to go undetected by any supernatural means.

It's time for Kamijou Touma to be more proactive. If he wants to find a way back at all, that exactly what he needs to do.

"Going somewhere?" Kamijou almost jumped at the voice, but the familiarity of it calmed him down. He turned around to see a frowning blonde, a different blonde from the one who showed up with Issei earlier.

"You were…" Kamijou knows the older boy said his name, but his memories are failing him. The blonde felt aggrieved that he wasn't remembered and displayed his feelings with a pout.

Kamijou snapped his fingers. "That's right. You're Genshirou, right?" The uncertainty in his voice made the boy frown even harder, but at least his name was accurately recalled.

"Yeah, that's right. Now onto the topic of why you're just dipping out of here without saying anything to anyone before I start feeling like crap." The black-haired teenager felt somewhat ashamed of just leaving without a word., but he felt no regrets in his decision.

"I need to head over to Tokyo to do something." The low-presence blondie raised a brow.

"Could you at least give me something more, like why exactly you need to head to Tokyo and what you're going to do?" Kamijou crossed his arms and looked to the side. The why would have him reveal that he's from another world. That discomforting truth isn't something Kamijou just wants to spill out. His status as a person who's a long way from his world feels wrong.

And it calls up unsettling memories that would be better locked away.

"Does it really matter why I'm leaving? There's something I need to do and that's that… Okay that sounds a bit dickish, but this is super important. I don't really have time to hang around here and get stabbed again."

The non-pretty boy blonde winced at Kamijou's desperate words. "Well…" The boy sighed and made his decision. "I won't stop you." The reckless boy smiled in relief and was just about to offer his thanks.

"But!" Before the words could come out though, he was interrupted by Genshirou waving his cellphone. "At least keep in touch. You were a good pal, and it'd bother me if something bad happened to you."

The two traded numbers and parted ways with acceptance. Whether or not Kamijou is ever going to call him for help is up in the air.

* * *

"How much Yen do I have right now?" Shortly after leaving the whole property that belonged to Yasaka, he found himself in the city, heading towards a train station. "A ride from Kyoto to Tokyo should cost about 15,000 Yen…"

He felt the reaper's call for his wallet. "That means I'll only be left with 2,000 yen at most!" He strained his bloodshot eyes as he delved deeper into his wallet to find any possible invisible coins to provide comfort.

He let out a despairful sigh. "Well, it was going to come to this anyway."

After paying for a ticket and mourning the lightening of his wallet, he simply waited for the train. He stretched his sore body, which sent ripples of pain through his nerves. It was an irritating thing, yet he runs the risk of either having his body get too stiff or increase the pain.

So naturally, he chose to increase the pain. It was an obvious, easy choice.

The whistling of a train grinding to a halt entered Kamijou's ears. It was a typical bullet train that could be found anywhere in Japan. The white exterior and streamlined shape was the very pinnacle of speed among trains.

A ball of nervousness began to build up in the boy's gut. He stepped onto the train and found a seat close to the back. What if getting to Tokyo doesn't really do anything? What if he's completely wasting his time with this. What if he...?

"It doesn't matter." He dispelled all his doubts. "I just need to do whatever I can do."

Next stop: Tokyo.

* * *

"Could you be a dear and go visit that wonderful colorful city of Tokyo for me?" A white-haired man with an utterly fabulous goatee requested that one simple thing to his most loyal of subordinates.

"Sir? If I may be so presumptuous to ask, what exactly will you have me do there?" The silver-haired subordinate was at complete ease even when questioning his direct superior. Of course, the goatee-toting devilish man spun on his heel and began walking away. Not before speaking once more though.

"Well~ I just thought it'd be amazing if there was another entry point to surprise my fellow lively fellows that inhabit the world! Couldn't you imagine the excitement and the bloodbath? It'd be a carnival of despair. Just like how things should be. Wouldn't you agree?"

"Understood." The staunchly devoted subordinate bowed and a magical circle emanated from below his feet.

"Ah! Before you go. I'm just letting you know that there's an interesting reward for you if you succeed~ I'm talking about the amazing reward of me spawning a chance for you to meet with your dear old sister." The subordinate who seemed to be the very embodiment of a calm ice sculpture taking human shape, quivered for just split second. It was just slow enough for his leader to catch, which pulled out an inhumanly wide grin from him.

"I'm expecting wonderful and great things from you, Euclid!" The now named subordinate gave a solemn nod before being swallowed up in a flash of light.

"Haha..." The cheerful man's visage warped into something befitting a devil. "Hahahahahahaha!" He felt like a kid at a candy store that was going to clean the entire store with arson. He finally settled down from his excited high and culminated his goal into succinct words.

"It's time to remind the world that we're Devils."

* * *

There was no moon, no sun, no sky, and no ground. A place that seemed to be forgotten by the world and the laws that accompany it. The concept of what defined this place was undefined and shifted infinitely; a dreamlike hazy illusion.

"You can't kill me." A voice tinged with the whisper of despair sounded out in this odd space. The speaker's features were as eldritch as the space it existed in. "The world is harsh, but that is the law of the world."

"..." The being who it was referring to, took the shape of a man with the countenance of a machine. His eyes were that of a dead man that held no passion for anything.

"I followed my nature and embraced this illuminating end. I have no ties to the world that cast me aside through conflicting information, but no matter how faint they are for you, you still have ties to it. You were created by that system. Ah, how wonderful."

"..." He took a step towards that undefinable being with his fists raised. There was no aura, no power, and no threat around the fists.

"Didn't you listen to anything I said, you overeager failure? Though, I can't even say that because you were the result of a success that succeeded too hard."

Finally the man spoke. "I care not. All will fall beneath my fists." Right then and there, a malicious, indigo aura seeped into his hands, transforming them into something that would bring about an absolute end to everything.

He threw a fist towards the being that seemed to be laughing in the face of utter despair and welcoming it with open arms.

"Destruction...huh. I was forgotten, but now even what was forgotten will cease to exist? That's right… I was forgotten, but I won't forget. What an irresistible truth!" Those were the beings last words before scattering to the void. The only being left was that man that lacked any life in his body.

He slowly moved, like a finely crafted machine honed for a single purpose. "There's only a single thing worth living for. The perfect end has arrived. I won't let any of you snatch that away from me."

He stared upwards, like he was lost in thought while staring up at the sky. There was no sky.

"There's only one battlefield that can bring the end for me."


End file.
